
Class JT^^ 

Book. y^^W^SJ^-S 
Copyright N^ 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSrr. 



SOME 

HISTORIC HOUSES 

OF WORCESTER 

A Brief Account of 

the Houses and Taverns 

that Fill a Prominent Part 

In the History of Worcester 

Together with Interesting 

Reminiscences of 

their Occupants 

Illustrated irith %e^product i o n s 

of %arc Tr'nits and 

T* hotograpJi s 




Trinted fo?' 

WORCESTER BANK & TRUST COMPANY 

1919 



Copyright, I919 

BY THE 

WORCESTER BANK AND TRUST COMPANY 



.Wf^rSJfs- 



The vignette on 
the title page is a repro- 
duction of the sign which hung 
on the old Salisbury Mansion, and the line illus- 
tration on page i is "Main Street in 
Worcester, Mass.," sketched 
from an old print 



Compiled, arranged and printed by direction of 

Walton Advertising y Printing Company 

Boston, Mass. 



©CI.A561096 



DEC 22 1919 



Some HISTORIC HOUSES of WORCESTER 




! Taken for the Bank 

THE WORCESTER BANK AND TRUST COMPANY 



Foreword 

BELIEVING in the historical value of the landmarks of old 
Worcester, the Worcester Bank and Trust Company pre- 
I sents to its patrons and friends this little brochure, in which 
have been gathered traditions and facts relating to some of 
the old houses. 

With it goes a pride that many of the men who have been intimately 
connected with its history have contributed so greatly to the records of 
the city. 

Isaiah Thomas, who brought the presses of the Massachusetts Spy 
to Worcester at the beginning of the Revolution, presided at the first 
meeting of the men who founded the Worcester Bank. Daniel Waldo 
was the first president of the bank when it was established in 1804; and 
he was succeeded by his son, Daniel Waldo, Jr., who held its presidency 
until his death in 1845. His successor was Stephen Salisbury, 2d, who 
remained in office until his decease in 1884, when his son, Stephen 
Salisbury, 3d, was elected president. 

In 1917 the Worcester National Bank and the Worcester Trust 
Company, two of the city's leading financial institutions, were consoli- 



FOREWORD 



dated under the name of the Worcester Bank and Trust Company, 
having combined the names of the old Worcester Bank, established in 
1804, and the Worcester Trust Company, whose charter was one of 
the first trust company charters granted in this country, and which 
commenced business in 1869. 

Though many tributes have been paid to the bearers of old and 
honored names in Worcester, it seems fitting that the men who bore 
them should be remembered by an institution they so long served. It 
seems especially appropriate that a bank which has been so long 
affiliated with the interests of Worcester, should, in the year of the 
fiftieth anniversary of its business life, perpetuate the past in a form 
that it hopes will be of value to the residents of the citv. 




From a painting Kindnes 

nf Lincoln Newton 

Kinnicult 



VI 



OFFICERS OF THE WORCESTER BANK & TRUST 

COMPANY 



WILLIAM D. LUEY, Chairman of the Board 

JOHN E. WHITE. President 

HENRY P. MURRAY ) 

SAMUEL D. SPURR > Vice-Presidents 

CHARLES A. BARTON ) 

ALVIN J. DANIELS, Treasurer BERl ICE F. SAWYER, Secretary 

FREDERICK M. HEDDEN, Cashier CHARLES F. HUNT, Auditor 



TRUST DEPARTMENT 

SAMUEL H. CLARY, Vice-President and Trust Officer 



DIRECTORS 

ERNEST G. ADAMS Kinsley & Adams 

HERBERT P. BAGLEY White & Bagley Co. 

EDWIN N. BARTLETT Edwin Bartlett Co. 

ERNEST P. BENNETT Supt. Royal Worcester Corset Co. 

GEORGE F. BLAKE Georee F. Blake, Jr., & Co. 

GEORGE F. BROOKS Harrington & Richardson Arms Co. 

ALEXANDER H. BULLOCK Bullock & Thaver 

DeWITT CLINTON Treasurer Worcester Gas Light Co. 

JOHN H. COES Pres. Worcester Mechanics Savings Bank 

A. OTIS DAVIS Davis & Brown Woolen Co. 

ALEXANDER DeWITT Kinnicutt & DeWitt 

T. H. GAGE Smith, Gaee & Dresser 

GEORGE A. GASKILL Pres. People's Savings Bank 

HENRY JEWETT GREENE Insurance 

JAMES N. HEALD Treas. Heald Machine Co. 

CHARLES H. HUTCHINS Retired 

ALBERT H. INMAN Pratt & Inman 

WILLIAM D. LUEY Chairman of the Board 

CHARLES F. MARBLE Treas. Curtis & Marble Machine Co. 

J. RUSSEL MARBLE J. Russel Marble & Co. 

CLINTON S. MARSHALL Mgr. American Steel & Wire Co. 

PAUL B. MORGAN Pres. Morgan Construction Co. 

EDGAR REED Pres. Reed & Prince Mfg. Co. 

GEORGE I. ROCKWOOD Rockwood Sprinkler Co. 

\^'M. H. SAWYER, Jr Treas. W. H. Sawyer Lumber Co. 

JOHN C. STEWART Stewart Boiler Works 

HARRY G. STODDARD Vice-Pres. Wyman-Gordon Co. 

ALBERT L. STRATTON .... Treas. Worcester County Institution for Savings 

E. KENT SWIFT Whitin Machine Works 

FORREST W. TAYLOR Real Estate 

CHARLES M. THAYER Thayer, Smith & Gaskill 

REGINALD WASHBURN Pres. Wire Goods Co. 

CHANNING M. WELLS American Optical Co. 

JOHN E. WHITE President 

MATTHEW J. WHITTALL Carpet Manufacturer 

SAMUEL B. WOODWARD .... Pres. Worcester County Institution for Savings 
ARTHUR 0. YOUNG Pres. Claflin-Sumner Coal Co. 

vii 




Some Historic Houses 
of Worcester 



A CITY is the composite expression of its residents. Their 
character determines the size and quality of its develop- 
ment. This is especially true of Worcester; for it owes its 
, origin and prosperity to the spirit which imbued its first 
settlers and has since characterized its residents. 

Had not the first settlers, who nearly two centuries and a half ago 
set out from Boston to establish a settlement among hostile Indians 
on Lake Quinsigamond, been possessed of unusual courage, and had 
not those who came after them been equally endowed with the charac- 
teristics which make for the prosperity of a community, Worcester 
would never have grown to the commanding position which it now 
holds. It is true that its natural surroundings have had much to do 
with its wealth and progress. It is in the centre of Massachusetts, at 
the head waters of a number of streams which furnish ample power 
for its industrial enterprises, and is upon beautiful hills, surrounded 
by some of the most fertile farming sections in New England. 

To-day it is the second largest city in Massachusetts and the third 
largest in New England, with a population of a hundred and ninety 
thousand. In its industrial establishments no less than forty-five 
thousand people work, and its manufactured goods are valued at 
over a hundred million dollars. It is widely known as an educational 
centre, being the domicile of some of the best-known colleges and 
technical schools in the country, and its park system and its residential 
section are surpassed by those of no other city. 

A survey of the land bordering Lake Quinsigamond was made by 
order of the General Court of the Bay State Colony in 1667, and a 
tract eight miles square surveyed, special note being made of excellent 
chestnut-tree land on which it was thought thirty or sixty families 
might dwell. Worcester was settled in 1674 by Daniel Gookin of 
Cambridge, Daniel Henchman of Boston, Thomas Prentice of 



Some HISTORIC HOUSES of WORCESTER 

Woburn, and Richard Beers of Watertown, who were chosen by the 
General Court to take charge of the settlement on Lake Quinsiga- 
mond which the Court had determined. The land was purchased 
from the Indian Sagamores John and Solomon, who the same year 
had been visited by John Eliot and Daniel Gookin. John Eliot met 
the Indians on Pakachoag Hill, near which to-day is the College of 
the Holy Cross; and beneath the hill's lofty trees he preached to the 
Indians, who later, under King Philip, burned the settlement of 
Quinsigamond, December 2, 1675, leaving nothing but ashes, while 
the settlers were forced to flee. The second attempt at settlement 
was made in 1684, and the name " Quinsigamond " was changed to 
" Worcester," " and there is a tradition that the name was given to 
commemorate the battle of Worcester where Cromwell shattered the 
forces of Charles 2nd in 165 1." Here a corn and a saw mill, garrison 
house, and a number of log cabins sprang up, but again the settle- 
ment was fated to suffer at the hands of the surrounding savages, 
for in 1702, during Queen Anne's War, the Indians attacked the town 
which they had constantly menaced; but Digory Sargent and his family 
remained long after the other settlers had fled, and during the summer 
of 1702 was left unmolested. On the approach of winter a committee 
advised him to leave the place, but Sargent did not heed their advice. 
A dozen armed men were despatched to seek him, and pushing forward 
through an intense storm reached the garrison house, about which 
footprints were visible. They found the door broken down and Sar- 
gent stretched on the floor dead. His family had been carried away 
by the Indians, at whose hands they suffered great torture. After- 
ward the eldest who had been taken to Canada was released, and on 
her return here related the details of her father's death. Sagamore 
John had led his men to the garrison house, which they surrounded. 
Sargent seized his gun, but was shot and fell near the stair to which 
he had retreated. He was then scalped, and his wife and children 
taken captive. Mrs. Sargent, who through fright and weakness 
impeded the progress of the flight, was killed by a chief. 

The colonists who found Sargent's body buried it beneath an oak 
on the land he had so faithfully tilled. At the time of the third and 
successful settlement, Sargent's lot was the home lot of the first man of 
the third settlers. 

In the spring of 17 13, however, the proprietors expressed their 
desire to establish a new settlement at the place whence twice the 
Indians had driven the early colonists. Jonas Rice was the first to 
return here, arriving on October 21, 1713, and taking as his land that 
formerly allotted Digory Sargent. His brother, Gershom Rice, joined 
him, and Nathaniel Aloore and Daniel Heywood followed. A log 
garrison house was built on the west side of Alain Street near Chatham 
Street. A church was established, and by 1718 fifty-eight houses had 
been built and the permanent establishment of a town with some two 
hundred inhabitants sprang up where Worcester now is. In 1722 the 
town was incorporated, and during the half-century preceding the 



Some HISTORIC HOUSES of WORCESTER 

Revolution, Worcester took on size and ciiaracter. After conquering 
the Indians, the planters began an active warfare on animals and 
snakes that infested the region near their homes. Large bounties 
were offered for certain pests, among them rattlesnakes that brought 
T,d., and a draft of " £i on the treasury was accompanied with 80 
rattles as vouchers." Wolves prowled about the settlement, and carried 
off young cattle and sheep. £4 bounty was offered for every wolf 
captured, and in 1733, so greatly did they menace the cattle that the 
price was raised to £8. ^d. was offered for each blackbird and jay 
which at one time greatly injured the harvests. All of these plunderers 
were despatched with great vigor, and as time passed, the courage 
and persistency of these early settlers won their battle in the heart 
of New England. 

The town played an important part in the stirring days of the Revo- 
lution. An interesting fact in connection with the Revolutionary days 
is that the iron cannon which the third settlers had mounted in front of 
the garrison house near Adams Square for defence in case of Indian at- 
tack, in its later location west of the Court House, was used to call 
the people to arms on that memorable day — the 19th of April, 1775. 

The population of Worcester, which at the time of the Civil War 
was about 30,000 people, has since rapidly grown, and the city's 
expansion in industry, wealth, and culture has been most significant; 
and it is now, in culture, thrift, and diversified industry, perhaps sec- 
ond to no other city in the country. 

So full is the story of Worcester of incidents which show the cour- 
age, persistence, and imagination of Its inhabitants, that the limited 
space at our disposal does not permit of more than a glimpse at a 
few of the most interesting ones. And as so much of the history 
of Worcester naturally clusters about its old homes and taverns, it 
has been thought best to present this story — " Some Historic Houses 
of Worcester " — about which have lingered facts and traditions of 
those who have made Worcester what it is to-day. Indeed, the city 
is a memorial not alone to the indomitable courage and wide foresight 
that inspired the pioneer settlers of Lake Quinsigamond, but it is a 
living monument to the sterling qualities of many men who have fol- 
lowed. So that In this little brochure will be found Interesting accounts 
of Revolutionary activities, some of the noted guests who have been 
received in Worcester, what its leading citizens have done at critical 
times in local and national affairs; and it is hoped that the whole is so 
illustrated that It will make a permanent addition to the already large 
library in which the record of Worcester's past may be found. 



Some HISTORIC HOUSES of WORCESTER 



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/^ro»; n painlinf, Kindness nf Benjamin Thomas Hill 

THE TIMOTHY BIGELOW MANSION 

at the extreme left, next the Lynde House, and then the IVheeler House. The next building is 
supposed to be the Heywood Tavern, which stood on the site of the present Bay State House and 
was afterzvards known as the Central Hotel. This painting was discovered on a panel board above 
the fireplace in the parlor of the Theophilus ff heeler House when the paint was scraped off. It 
must have been painted before the close of the Revolution, as the Exchange Hotel is not shown in the 
picture. 

HOME OF COLONEL TLMOTHY BIGELOW 

In the now bustling Lincoln Square once lived Colonel Bigeloiv, who 
gave his " last full measure of devotion " to his country 

FOL^R blacksmiths, who later rose to eminence in Massachusetts 
history, once toiled at forges in Worcester. They are Governor 
Levi Lincoln, Sr., Elihu Burritt, Ichabod Washburn, and Colonel 
Timothy Bigelow. Not the least of these is Colonel Bigelow, 
the gallant Patriot, who, with the little company of minute-men that 
he had carefully drilled, answered the call of the rider who on a foam- 
covered horse dashed through Worcester early in the morning of the 
memorable 19th of April, 1775, calling: " To arms! To arrns! War is 
begun!" The minute-men with their commander gathered on the 
Common; and there, with cannon booming and bells ringing, they 
received their instructions, and with bowed heads listened to the bene- 
diction of the Rev. Thaddeus Maccarty, minister of the Old South 
Church, before they began their march to Lexington and Concord. 
All of which is a picture that, if depicted on canvas, would grip the 
heart of the beholder. 

Lip to the time that Timothy Bigelow forsook the anvil and forge 
for the musket and sword, his life had been tinged with romance, — 
a bright background for the dark shadows that were to gather and 
culminate in tragedy at twoscore years and ten. He fell in love with 
pretty Anna Andrews, an heiress, whose guardian refused consent 
to her marriage with a humble blacksmith. Then it was that the 
spirit later to burst forth into full flame, when fanned by the winds 
of the Revolution, inspired young Bigelow; and, engaging the fleetest 
horses obtainable, he and his betrothed dashed to Hampton, New 
Hampshire, where they were married. In the house built by his 



Some HISTORIC HOUSES of WORCESTER 

father-in-law, Samuel Andrews, at the corner of Main Street and 
Lincoln Square, which stood until 1824 on the spot now marked by a 
tablet, Timothy Bigelow gathered an extensive library, and, when not 
engaged at his forge, took every opportunity to perfect his oratorical 
gifts that during the Revolution served him so well. Here he lived 
when he became one of the Patriot leaders in Worcester, one of the 
chief promoters of the Sons of Liberty, the organizer of the American 
Political Society, a member of the Committee of Correspondence, and 
a delegate to the Provincial Congress. Here he lived when news of 
the Boston tea party reached him; and, dropping his hammer, he hast- 
ened to his house, where he took from a closet a canister of tea, and 
burned both container and contents in the fireplace, and afterward 
covered the remains with red-hot coals. With no explanation to his 
family he then returned to his forge. It was Colonel Bigelow who 
with General Joseph Warren persuaded Isaiah Thomas to establish 
himself in Worcester, and with their aid the printer was able to move 
his press here a few days before the outbreak of the Revolution. 

Timothy Bigelow plays an important part in the well-known story 
concerning the visit of the two British spies at the tavern of "Tory" 
Jones, which once stood on Main Street, opposite Chatham. It seems 
that General Gage about a month before the battles of Lexington and 
Concord concluded that it would be a fine plan to march from Concord 
to Worcester, and thus more easily quell the revolution that he knew 
was brewing. With this idea in view, he despatched two of his officers, 
Captain Brown and Ensign de Bernicre, to make a thorough examina- 
tion of the roads and bridges and to bring back a full report of con- 
ditions generally in Worcester. The two young men arrived in March, 
1775, at "Tory" Jones Tavern, where on account of their civilian 
dress they felt they would not be recognized; but the innkeeper, 
though favoring the British cause, had a garrulous tongue, and it was 
not long before it was noised abroad that two strangers were staying 
at the tavern. A delegation of citizens came to call; but the spies, 
being wary, told their host that they were simple sailor-folk, who were 
not dressed sufficiently well to receive strangers. At which the land- 
lord may have said: " We know ivhy you are here. I and my friends 
who await you are loyal to the king, and we would assist you in any 
way that lies in our power." 

The spies remained in seclusion over Sunday; and early Monday 
morning, having asked for some roast beef and brandy, they proceeded 
on their way back to Boston, feeling fairly sure that their presence 
in the town was generally unknown. They had, however, not reckoned 
on the vigilance of Colonel Timothy Bigelow and others, who knew 
the exact time of their arrival and departure, this accurate knowledge 
concerning strangers — especially strangers who walked with a military 
gait — being a part of their duties as members of a vigilance commit- 
tee. The spies left the town by a route different from that by which 
they had entered it; and, after reaching the hill on Shrewsbury Street, 
they were dismayed to find that a tall, erect horseman was riding 

6 



Some HISTORIC HOUSES of WORCESTER 







From a ininl 



i'nilrilion of the American Antiquarian Society 
VIEW OF THE COMMON 1849 



after them. He paused as he drew near, gazed keenly into their faces, 
and finally wished them good-morning. Had the spies but known, 
their fears with regard to him were well founded; for at that early 
hour it was the Patriot blacksmith of the Revolution who had accosted 
them, and who would have been the means of their arrest, had they 
not chosen another road than the main one, so that he failed to identify 
them. It is to be regretted that the old tavern of " Tory " Jones 
has long since passed, and that no picture of it is extant as a reminder 
of the part it played in Revolutionary Worcester. And this is almost 
equally true of the home of Colonel Bigelow. If it were not for the 
fact that Mr. Benjamin Thomas Hill has with great care preserved 
and photographed the fragment of wall paper whereon is depicted 
what is supposed to be the Bigelow House, nothing would remain 
to show just how it looked when the brave officer made his home there. 
The little company of minute-men that marched from the old Com- 
mon to the lively roll of the drum on that fresh spring day was 
afterward praised by General Washington, who, on reviewing the 
company, exclaimed, "This is discipline indeed!" Colonel Bigelow 
took part in the expedition against Quebec, where he was taken pris- 
oner. He received his commission as colonel after his exchange, and 
was put in command of the 15th Massachusetts Regiment in the 
Continental Army, composed largely of Worcester County men. He 
saw service at Saratoga, Valley Forge, Monmouth, Verplanck's Point, 
and at Yorktown. After eight years of fighting he obtained a grant 
of land in Vermont, whence, after founding the town of Montpelier, he 
returned to his forge at Worcester, broken in health and aged when 
he should have been in his prime. Misfortunes rapidly multiplied. 
IVIoney was particularly scarce; and Colonel Bigelow became entangled 



Some HISTORIC HOUSES of WORCESTER 

in debt, for which he was arrested and imprisoned. One of the saddest 
entries made in any record of the city of Worcester is the note on 
March 31, 1790, in the old jail book, of the discharge of Colonel Tim- 
othy Bigelow ,— " By Deth." 

In the district school the Worcester boys were taught " to pull off 
their hats to Parson Bancroft and Colonel Bigelow." The latter was 
six feet tall, of martial bearing and graceful carriage. Many honors 
came to him after his lonely death in the old jail a century and a 
quarter ago. A tablet marks the brick block that stands on the site 
of his home. More than a half-century ago a fine monument was 
placed over his grave. His sons and sons' sons have been distin- 
guished in many ways, a son Timothy having been a prominent law- 
yer, and a grandson, John P. Bigelow, mayor of Boston, while a 
descendant married the Hon. Abbott Lawrence, ambassador to Eng- 
land and grandfather of President A. Lawrence Lowell of Harvard 
University. 

GOVERNOR JOHN HANCOCK MANSION 

This old mansion, removed in 1846 from its former location on Lincoln 
Street, now stands at the south corner of Grove and Lexington 
Streets. It has been the home of five governors 

Probably no other house in New England can boast of being the 
home of five governors. This distinction therefore belongs exclusively 
to the edifice that in the last century was known as the old Lincoln 
Mansion, then standing on the west side of Lincoln Street, a near 
neighbor of the famous " Oaks." The stately front doorway from its 
framing of white clapboards looked down a pathway bordered by 
tall syringas. A century and a half ago the Governor Hancock 
Mansion was one of the finest residences in Worcester. 

The broad acres on which the house once stood are said to have 
belonged in the early days of the settlement to Captain Daniel 
Henchman, who with Major-General Gookin was active in forming a 
settlement at Worcester. At least, as a land controversy showed, if 
Captain Henchman did not actually own these acres, he had the power 
to grant them to whomever he might choose. This veteran of King 
Philip's War and able leader of the first settlement in W^orcester 
is sadly recalled by Samuel Sewall in his diary: "October 19, 1685. 
About Nine oclock at night News comes to Town of Capt. Hench- 
men's Death at Worcester last Thorsday; buried on Friday. Very 
few at his Funeral, his own Servants, a white and black, carried him 
to, and put him in his Grave. His Wife and children following him 
and no more, or but one or two more." Mr. Lincoln N. Kinnicutt in 
his Historical Notes relating to the Second Settlement of Worcester 
adds: "His burial-place is unknown and unmarked. The City of 
Worcester has honored his memory and paid tribute to his great 
ability and worth by giving the name of Henchman to a very short 
street, the location of which is probably unknown to a great majority 



Some HISTORIC HOUSES of WORCESTER 




From a photograph 



Kindness of Waldo Lincoln 



THE GOVERNOR JOHN HANCOCK MANSION 



of the inhabitants of the City. A sad ending for one who held many 
offices of honor and trust in the Colony and who had proved himself a 
brave soldier in King Philip's War and an able leader in the founding 
of our City! " 

The estate on which the Hancock Mansion stood came into the 
possession of Daniel Henchman, grandson of the pioneer, a leading 
bookseller in Boston before the Revolution, and founder of the first 
paper-mill in New England. The second Daniel, shrewdly evading 
the privileges of the king's printer, also printed the first American 
edition of the Bible. A son-in-law of Henchman, Thomas Hancock, 
next owned the estate; and on his death in 1764 the fortune that he 
had acquired as a merchant he left, with his Worcester estate, to Gov- 
ernor John Hancock. It was here that Governor Hancock resorted in 
the summers and also during the brief interims that he was able to 
spare from his arduous duties in the Patriots' cause. For a time the 
house, surrounded by its hundred and fifty rich acres, was used as a 
fashionable boarding-house, and conducted by one Samuel Woodburn. 
Here judges, officers, and jurymen were entertained when they at- 
tended court in Worcester. 

In 178 1 Governor Levi Lincoln bought the estate, and here he resided 
until his death in 1820. He had the distinction of being a blacksmith 
who, though he wrought at the anvil by day, devoted his nights to 
study. He was the son of a prosperous Hingham farmer, and when 
very young was apprenticed to a blacksmith. Later he studied law, 
became a niember of Congress, acting Secretary of State and Attorney- 
General, Lieutenant-Governor and Governor of Massachusetts. He 
is said to have been " at the head of the Worcester Bar, from the close 
of the Revolution till he left our courts." Among his distinguished 



Some HISTORIC HOUSES of WORCESTER 



children were Levi Lincoln, Jr., Governor of Massachusetts for nine 
years, and Enoch Lincoln, for three years Governor of Maine. 

Samuel Swett Green, in recalling a visit paid by Bancroft, the 
historian, to his birthplace, speaks of Governor Lincoln, Sr.: "While 
riding along Lincoln Street, just as we reached the site of the old 
Lincoln Mansion, I remember that he [Bancroft] repeated an anec- 
dote of Levi Lincoln, Senior, who had been Attorney-General of 
the United States during the presidency of Thomas Jefferson. It must 
be remembered that Mr. Lincoln became nearly blind in the latter 
portion of his life. ' Riding along Lincoln Street one day,' said Mr. 
Bancroft, ' Mr. Lincoln met a man driving a large flock of geese. In 
consequence of the dimness of his sight he mistook the geese for chil- 
dren, and threw out of his carriage a handful of small coin, saying, 
"Bless you, my children!'"" 

In its early days the house was adjacent to some of the finest spots 
in Worcester, including Lincoln's Pond, where William Lincoln kept 
his Indian canoe, and Lincoln's Grove, where many a Worcester 
beau and belle carved their initials on the tree-trunks. Through 
the nearby locust wood Mrs. Lincoln's turkeys, ducks, geese, hens 
and chickens, roamed. There was the garden in which the mistress 
took such pride, though with all these outer adornments the mansion 
itself, true to Puritan simplicity, boasted of but one carpeted room. 

It was at one time occupied by Governor John Davis and his wife, 
who was Miss Eliza Bancroft, the eldest daughter of the Rev. Aaron 
Bancroft and sister of George Bancroft, the historian. The five gov- 
ernors who lived in it are: John Hancock, Levi Lincoln, Sr., Levi 
Lincoln, Jr., Enoch Lincoln, and John Davis. In 1846 it was 
removed to its present location at the south corner of Grove and 
Lexington Streets, and on its former site William A. Wheeler erected 
a house in which he resided several years, and which was afterward 
occupied by Philip L. Moen. About ten years ago the house was 
torn down. 

•n^IOTHV PAINE HOUSE AND "THE OAKS" 

Presided over by masters who zvere Loyalists. In the former John 
Adams proposed a foast to " The Devil," and in the latter Dr. 
William Paine died on the anniversary of the Battle of Lexington 

Doctor " Billy " Paine was born a Loyalist, was educated a Loyalist, 
and remained a Loyalist until the day of his death, which occurred on 
April 19, 1833, at "The Oaks," on the fifty-eighth anniversary of the 
battle of Lexington, in the eighty-third year of the staunch old man's 
age. His beautiful home on Lincoln Street, opposite Forestdale Road, 
about which cluster so many memories of the War for Independence, is 
now owned by the Daughters of the American Revolution. Judge 
Timothy Paine, himself a staunch Tory, built the house, but did not 
occupy it until after the war. His earlier home was also on Lincoln 
Street; and it was there, in his house long since torn down, that 

II 



Some HISTORIC HOUSES of WORCESTER 

President John Adams frequently visited. It should be remembered 
that President Adams taught school in Worcester at one time. Mrs. 
Paine was ever loyal to the king, and there is the familiar tale of her 
matching her wit against that of Mr. Adams. Before the war Mr. 
Adams was invited to dinner at the Timothy Paine House, where he 
met many of his old pupils, among them William Paine. The dinner 
was tendered to members of the court and bar, Timothy Paine himself 
at that time holding important offices in the county. 

When wine was served, the host proposed a toast to '_' The King." 
Mr. Adams instantly, with the rare tact so often exhibited by him, 
quelled a hesitancy on the part of certain Whigs, who were among the 
guests and who showed anger when such a toast was proposed. 
" Drink! " whispered Mr. Adams. "We shall have an opportunity to 
return the compliment! " 

Mr. Paine then suggested that Mr. Adams propose a toast, and 
gravely the young Patriot gave, " The Devil! " 

Indignation was pictured on the flushed face of the Hon. Timothy 
Paine; but his wife calmed him at once, exclaiming, as she placed her 
hand on his arm, " My dear, as the gentleman has been so kind as to 
drink to our king, let us by no means refuse to drink to his! " 

On the outbreak of the Revolution, American soldiers were quartered 
in the Paine House, and signified their feelings toward Mrs. Paine 
and her family by cutting the throat of a full-length portrait of Judge 
Timothy Paine that hung in the parlor. It is said that on one 
occasion one of the soldiers threatened to shoot Mrs. Paine. Facing 
the offender with a flash that was characteristic of the lady, she said, 
"Shoot me if you dare!" and marched to the commander of the 
regiment and complained of the subordinate's incivility. 

When in 1774 Judge Timothy Paine was made by Governor Gage 
one of His Majesty's mandamus councillors, great indignation was 
expressed in Worcester, and at once the Sons of Liberty were asked 
to assemble on Worcester Common. Upward of three thousand men 
came from different towns in the county, and out of this number was 
chosen a committee to wait on Judge Paine, and demand that he 
resign the office given him by a representative of the king. It was 
not hard for the committee to obtain this resignation from the old 
Loyalist, but on returning with the report new difficulties arose. The 
supporters of the Patriots' cause lined Main Street from the meeting- 
house to the court-house, and on being given the announcement of 
Judge Paine's resignation it was decreed that such an action must 
be consummated by the appearance of the judge himself on the Com- 
mon. Again a delegation appeared at Judge Paine's house, and 
escorted him through a lane of men drawn up there; and, on passing 
between them, at intervals Judge Paine was constrained to read his 
declaration, — not without inward wrath at the fresh indignity thrust 
upon him. Similar adherents to the king were also brought down the 
lines, confessing their various transgressions, and at the end signing 
a document that had been prepared by the Committee of Correspond- 



Some HISTORIC HOUSES of WORCESTER 

ence. Mr. Caleb A. Wall, who draws his facts from Sabine's History 
of American Loyalists, states that " at first Mr. Dennie, one of the 
Committee, read his [Judge Paine's] resignation in his behalf. It 
was then insisted that he should read it himself, and with his hat off. 
Mr. Paine hesitated, and demanded the protection of the Committee; 
finally he complied, and was allowed to go to his dwelling. Tradition 
declares, that in the excitement attendant on the scene, Mr. Paine's 
wig was either knocked off or fell off. Be this as it may, from that day 
he abjured wigs, as much as he had done zvhigs, and never wore one 
again. The now dishonored wig in question, he gave to one of his 
negro slaves, named ' Worcester.' " 

Dr. " Billy " Paine, who became master of " The Oaks " now stand- 
ing on Lincoln Street, appears to have been less tractable than his 
father; for in spite of his early education, directed by a future Presi- 
dent of the United States, and his later study of medicine in Salem 
under the conservative Edward A. Holyoke, M.D., he was true to the 
traditions of his Loyalist family. The first public office appears to 
have been bestowed upon him after he had begun the practice of 
medicine in Worcester, and here established at the northerly entrance 
of Court Hill on Main Street the first apothecary's shop in the 
town. This office connected him very closely with the famous 
protest of June 20, 1774, which was his own work and that 
of Attorney-General Putnam. Of course the denouncement of 
the Patriots was fearful; and Clark Chandler, the town clerk 
of Loyalist sympathies, not only was obliged to obliterate the protest 
on the town records, but he was further compelled to complete the 
effacement by dipping his finger in ink and crossing the pages with 
black smudges. After this. Dr. Paine went to England, returning to 
Worcester after a short stay abroad only to find that he was still 
regarded with more or less bitterness by his fellow-townsmen. Ac- 
cepting a commission as surgeon-general in the British army, he served 
in America and eventually was stationed at Halifax. On the rescind- 
ing pf the act that banished him in 1787, he went to Salem, where 
he lived until the death of his father in 1793, when he returned to 
Worcester and took up his residence at "The Oaks." In 1825 the 
Massachusetts legislature passed a special act, whereby Dr. Paine 
was given the rights of an American citizen; but, aside from holding 
property that his brother had hitherto kept for him. Dr. Paine never 
availed himself of the privilege conferred on him by his native State. 

To-day the passer-by easily buries old differences as he gazes on 
the beauty of " The Oaks " nestled away on Lincoln Street. Indeed, 
he humorously remembers Isaiah Thomas's denunciation of William 
Paine in the Massachusetts Spy, which referred to the young Loyalist 
as " one of those vermin, or worse, emissaries of tyranny, crawling 
out of Boston to his forfeited seat in Worcester, there to avail himself 
of the good opinion of the people, in order to play his part." Little 
did Isaiah Thomas or his contemporaries know that less than a 
century later his great-grand-daughter was to wed the grandson of 

14 



Some HISTORIC HOUSES of WORCESTER 







From a print Collection of the American Antiquarian Society 

COURT HILL 1857 
Shoeing the Dix House at the lejt 

Dr. William Paine, and that this staunch Loyalist was to go down in 
history not only as a good physician and a noble gentleman, but as 
an ancestor of some branches of the Cabot, Lee, Peabody, Saltonstall, 
and Sturgis families. 

ELIJAH DL\ HOUSE 

Where General Joseph Warren brought his children a short time before 
the battle of Bunker Hill, and where the little family remained 
until after the evacuation of Boston 

The Dix House, which formerly stood on Main Street on the site 
of the Knights of Pythias Building, is now on Fountain Street. 
Elijah Dix, a Worcester physician and druggist, built the house, 
acquired large property here, and established a drug-store in Boston, 
where in 1795 he removed with his family. His devotion to his 
patients when the people of Worcester were stricken with small-pox 
has been many times recalled. Dr. Dix had several interests besides 
those of his profession, and among other achievements raised the 
Dix pear, so long familiar to fruit-growers. Extensive investments 

15 



Some HISTORIC HOUSES of WORCESTER 

in the then wooded sections of Maine took him frequently to that 
State, where he became interested in colonization, and where on his 
last visit in 1809, in a contest with a number of squatters, he received 
injuries from which he died. 

The story is told of a plot to drive Dr. Dix out of Worcester. Mr. 
Epler says concerning this: "A decoy call came at night summoning 
him to the bedside of an imaginary patient, on his way to which the 
plan was to waylay him in ambush. Thus trapped, the trick of the 
conspirators was to drive him from Worcester. The antagonism of his 
iron will and the unyielding purpose with which he relentlessly pur- 
sued certain enterprises had raised up enemies. Among the enter- 
prises which they derided was the planting of Worcester shade-trees, 
an idea of which he was the father, and which made him the butt of 
ridicule. The turnpike from Boston to Worcester was also among 
the things of which he was the promoter. In his civic work this 
uncompromising stand for conviction had made him a target, and the 
shaft this night fell at his door. Divining the danger, he did not 
quail, but threw up the window and called out to the stable-boy in 
loud tones: 'Bring round my horse, and see that the pistols in my 
holsters are double-shotted; then give the bull-dog a piece of raw 
meat and turn him loose! ' It is enough to say he was unmolested." 

An earlier and equally interesting portion of the story of the Dix 
House concerns the children of General Joseph Warren. Just before 
the battle of Bunker Hill they were brought here by their Patriot 
father. Through the old rooms and across the extensive land that 
surrounded the house romped Elizabeth, Joseph, Mary, and Richard, 
while in harassed Boston brave men died for the cause they believed 
just, and in battle General Warren yielded up his life. 

A lady, who lived in the house years ago, said that on a chamber 
window was cut, apparently with a diamond, the name of Mercy 
Scollay, who is said to have cared for the Warren children while 
they lived in Worcester. Correspondence is extant containing allusions 
to the Dix House in Worcester, some of the letters being written 
by General Warren to Dr. Dix. In a letter written from Boston, 
April 10, 1775, General Warren trusts that his children and family will 
arrive in Worcester by the following Thursday, April 13, 1775. Evi- 
dently, from letters that followed. General Warren contemplated 
purchasing the Dix place, as he planned for rental of extra land, also 
the purchase of horses. Miss Scollay mentions the great kindness 
shown to the Warren children by Dr. Dix and his wife. 

The career of a country gentleman that General Warren had 
apparently planned was cut short by his death at Bunker Hill; and 
the little family left at Worcester were cared for by Dr. Dix, who 
on June 30, 1775, was assured by Dr. John Warren, a brother of the 
general, that he and his brothers would hold themselves responsible 
for their care. 

Something of the indomitable spirit of her grandfather inspired 
Dorothea Lynde Dix, who was the pioneer worker among the world's 

16 



Some HISTORIC HOUSES of WORCESTER 

insane. A part of Miss Dix's childhood was spent in Worcester, and 
later she lived with her grandparents after their removal to Boston. 
After teaching school as early as 1816 in Worcester, Miss DIx came in 
touch with Dr. William Ellery Channing, with whose family a decade 
later she travelled as governess. Not long afterward, shocked at the 
conditions found among the insane, she began the important work 
of investigation and redemption for which she became world-famous. 
Her constant cry, after returning from extensive studies of the prob- 
lem in Europe, was: " If I am cold, they are cold. If I am weary, 
they are distressed. If I am alone, they are abandoned!" Her 
service as nurse during the Civil War was a notable one. Pressing on 
from Baltimore, she revealed the plot of the South to attack Washing- 
ton and capture President Lincoln. 

SALISBURY MANSIONS 

The homes of an old family that gave generously to Worcester 

A century ago Main Street began and ended between the Old South 
Church on the Common and the old Salisbury Mansion in Lincoln 
Square. The thoroughfare was broad, and lined with shade-trees, be- 
hind which stood stately mansions, interspersed with churches, a 
school-house, a court-house, and an occasional shop and tavern. Of 
all the notable dwellings in this vicinity of a century past the old 
Salisbury Mansion alone remains, — a watchful sentinel since the year 
1772, when Stephen Salisbury erected it for his home. Mr. Salisbury, 
of the commercial house of Samuel and Stephen Salisbury, was a 
merchant and one of the leading importers of Boston. In order to 
expand their business, the brothers opened a store in Worcester, 
Stephen Salisbury coming here for that purpose in 1767 and beginning 
business in a small building that then stood north of Lincoln Square. 
For three years Mr. Salisbury boarded at Timothy Paine's first 
home on Lincoln Street. Not long after this the young merchant 
built the mansion in Lincoln Square, where he lived for many years 
with his mother, to whom he was most devoted. The mansion 
was thrown open to many Worcester and Boston guests, over whom 
Madam Salisbury presided with the gentle grace that won for her 
a warm place in the hearts of those who were entertained there. Mrs. 
E. O. P. Sturgis, in recalling the mansion, says: "I recall distinctly 
the handsome old lady in the southwest parlor, which was her favorite 
room, and where in winter was always burning a bright wood fire, 
and probably this house was the last one in Worcester where the man 
servant would bring in the logs in what was called a ' leather apron,' 
a broad strip of leather with handles on each end. The house faced 
up Main Street and was always bathed in sunshine, and an unob- 
structed view was had of the whole length. There was a lawn in front 
of the house, divided by a stone walk, on both sides of which were 
shrubs and trees. On the east side of the house were parlors, from 
the windows of which one looked out on a strip of lawn, on which 

17 



Some HISTORIC HOUSES of WORCESTER 




From a photograph 



THE SALISBURY MANSION 
Lincoln Square 



Taken for the Bank 



were shrubs, and over Salisbury's Brook (the depth and width of 
which were regulated by the abundance of water or the reverse in the 
ponds in the northern part of the town) to Lincoln Street, a green 
field intervening between the brook and the street. All the surround- 
ings were peaceful and quiet, and the only sound heard was the 
lapping of the water against the stone wall, which prevented the 
ground from being washed away." 

Stephen Salisbury was one of the original associates of the Worcester 
Fire Society, organized in 1793 and still in existence, its members, 
as originally, limited to thirty, and now, though only a fire association 
by name, carrying out the ancient custom of publishing from time 
to time records of its associates. Mr. Salisbury married, after the 
death of his mother, IVliss Elizabeth Tuckerman of Boston. It is the 
mansion of their son, Stephen Salisbury, 2d, that stands to-day on 
Highland Avenue, in which is said to be the finest circular staircase 
in Worcester. Among the many memorials to his son, Stephen Salis- 
bury, 3d, are the Worcester Art JMuseum and Salisbury Park. Stephen 
Salisbury, 2d, on the death of Daniel Waldo, Jr., in 1845, became 
president of the old Worcester Bank — this office he held until his death 
in 1884, when he was succeeded by Stephen Salisbury, 3d. 

To-day the mansion of the first Salisbury fronts the steady traffic 



Some HISTORIC HOUSES of WORCESTER 

in Lincoln Square and the streets that branch from it. It is in full 
view of the site of the school-house where taught John Adams, second 
President of the United States; of the site of the Timothy Bigelow 
House, from which Colonel Bigelow departed to join the minute- 
men at Lexington; of the site of the old Hancock Arms, where 
occurred Revolutionary events; of Lincoln Street and the old Boston 
Road, over which have passed so many noted men; and of the 
equally famous Ivlain Street, down which the old mansion witnessed 
the march of Washington when he passed through Worcester to take 
command of the troops at Cambridge in 1775. From its elevation 
on Highland Street, directly opposite, a later and more imposing 
Salisbury Mansion looks down, facing its progenitor. Both are 
mute reminders of men who gave generously to the city of their 
adoption, — gave of their lands and money and even their homes, 
that education, recreation, charity, and art might be fostered. 



WALDO AL'XNSIONS 

The master of the first Waldo Mansion was unjustly arrested during 
Shays's Rebellion and aftenvard released on the payment of a 
barrel of West India rum. The father and son ivere the first 
and second presidents of the old Worcester Bank 

The two Waldo Mansions, formerly owned and occupied by Daniel 
Waldo, Sr., and Daniel Waldo, Jr., still stand in Worcester, though 
so greatly changed that they are unlike the stately homes of former 
days. The first Waldo house is still in Lincoln Square; and here 
once lived Daniel Waldo, who with his son came to Worcester in 
1782 and built the first brick store in the town, which he occupied for 
business. The good Boston merchant attracted much attention by 
what was then considered his extravagant ways of living, and by driv- 
ing the first pleasure-carriage that was seen in Worcester. Seven 
years after he established his business here he was the largest tax- 
payer in the town. 

During Shays's Rebellion, when the quiet of Worcester was dis- 
turbed by turbulent scenes at the Hancock Arms, at the Court House, 
and in the streets, a rumor spread that the soldiers staying at the 
tavern were being poisoned, that some traitor was in the town who 
caused this strange illness, which, it was predicted, would cause 
many deaths. A surgeon was called, who made a careful examination, 
and stated that some powerful drug was being administered through 
the sugar that was served in the soldiers' rum. Since this sugar was 
bought at the Waldo store, it was decided that Mr. Waldo must be the 
traitor. An officer at the head of a company of soldiers arrested 
the merchant, and escorted him to the Hancock Arms, then standing 
near his home, where he was formally accused of not being in favor of 
the rebellion (which was perfectly true and frankly admitted by Mr. 
Waldo), and was told that he would be held until one or more soldiers 

19 



Some HISTORIC HOUSES of WORCESTER 




From a print 



Kindness of Benjamin Thomas Hill 
THE WORCESTER BANK AND WALDO MANSION 



died of the poison, when he — the perpetrator of this outrage — would be 
promptly hanged. Fortunately, it was discovered that a considerable 
quantity of yellow snuff had accidentally dropped into the sugar with 
which the toddy was sweetened, and the prisoner was ordered to 
be released. He was, however, directed to first pay a fine of a barrel 
of West India rum. It may well be imagined that the Hon. Daniel 
Waldo, of the aristocratic tastes and the picturesque pleasure-chaise, 
disdainfully paid his " fine," and sought the seclusion of his Lincoln 
Square mansion. 

The portraits of Daniel and Rebecca Salisbury Waldo are in the 
Worcester Art Museum. Waldo Lincoln in his Genealogy of the 
Waldo Family relates the interesting story of the wife of Daniel 
Waldo, who as Rebecca Salisbury was a lovely Boston belle. At 
one time she rejected a reverend suitor, who, incensed at her cold- 
ness toward his wooing, vigorously asserted that she would be an old 
maid and " lead apes in Hell." To which, in a flash, Rebecca Salisbury 
replied: — 

"'Lead apes in Hell' — 'tis no such thing, 

The story is to fool us, 
But better there to hold a string 

Than here let monkeys rule us." 

On the death of Daniel Waldo, Sr., in 1808, his son succeeded him 
not only in business, but for a brief period as the president of the old 
Worcester Bank. He lived in his father's house on the east side of 
Lincoln Square until 1806, when he built for the use of the bank a 

20 



Some HISTORIC HOUSES of WORCESTER 

brick building on the site of the present Central Exchange. He lived 
in one part of this building until 1828, when he erected his mansion, 
where he and his maiden sisters lived until his death, on the site of the 
present Mechanics Hall. Governor Lincoln moved into the first Waldo 
Mansion while he awaited the completion of his own residence at the 
corner of Main and Elm Streets. The Waldo Mansion in 1845 — 
the year of the death of Daniel Waldo, Jr. — was moved to Waldo 
Street, where, greatly changed, it still stands. 

Daniel Waldo, Jr., was noted for his exactness in business. It is 
said that at one time he sent a special messenger to Holden to collect 
a bill of ten cents. He was a member of the famous Hartford Con- 
vention; the last survivor of the original members of the Worcester 
Fire Society, organized in 1793; the benefactor of his adopted city, 
giving land for the Rural Cemetery and building Central Church, 
as well as leaving, on his death, the greater part of his fortune to 
institutions and for philanthropic purposes. 

OLD SOUTH CHURCH 

From the porch of which was read for the first time in Massachusetts 
the Declaration of Independence 

Isaiah Thomas occupies a unique and an interesting place in colonial 
history. He had the courage to do a number of things, and not least 
among them was the interception of the messenger bearing a copy of 
the precious Declaration of Independence from Philadelphia and 
travelling with it post-haste to the Provincial Army in Boston. Mr. 
Thomas accosted the messenger as he paused at Worcester in July, 
1776, for a short rest; and, having secured a copy of the Declaration 
in an issue of the Philadelphia Gazette, he read it — for the first time 
in New England — from the porch of the Old South Church. After- 
ward Mr. Thomas printed the document in the July 17th issue of the 
Massachusetts Spy, then owned and printed by him. This was the 
first appearance of the Declaration in any New England newspaper. 
After the crowd assembled on the Common had listened to Mr. 
Thomas's reading, they rushed to the Court House and the King's 
Arms Tavern, and without interference from any one removed the 
arms of Great Britain. 

The Old South Church, which stood on the Common near the site 
of the present City Hall, was torn down in 1886, having occupied 
nearly the same spot as the second church building, erected in 1719. 
The first church in the town had been built of logs in 1717, near 
the junction of Green and Franklin Streets. In 1763 the Old South 
Church was built at a cost of £1,542. Judge John Chandler was 
the largest contributor, his gift for the new building being £40. Rev. 
Thaddeus Maccarty, then pastor, preached the first sermon in the 
building on Thanksgiving Day, December 8, 1763. Tradition says 
that the timbers put into the church were brought from woods that 



21 



Some HISTORIC HOUSES of WORCESTER 




From a print 



Collection of the American Antiquarian Society 



THE OLD SOUTH CHURCH AND TOWN HALL 1828 



were near the Common, in the vicinity of Union Hill; and it is well 
known that Daniel Hemenway, a noted church-builder of the day, 
with the aid of his brother Jacob, a carpenter, constructed the edifice. 
There is also a tradition that Jacob Hemenway's pew was at the 
left of the pulpit, and that through a convenient door the owner was 
able under the high pulpit to admit himself to a storeroom to which 
he held the key. Here he kept a home-brewed beverage with which 
he supplied the congregation at noon. 

As the years passed, the old church was considerably changed 
inside and out, the principal renovations taking place in 1783, 1805, 
1827-28, 1835, 1846, and 1871. The church-bell, weighing nearly a 
ton, installed at the beginning of the past century, was cast by Paul 
Revere & Sons in Boston; and the tower-clock, installed at about 
the same time, was made by Abel Stowell, the noted clock-maker. 
Among the early pastors of the church were the Rev. Andrew Gardner, 
the Rev. Isaac Burr, and the Rev. Thaddeus Maccarty. The latter 
was pastor from 1747 until 1784. It is a singular fact that Mr. Burr, 
after serving the parish in Worcester for twenty years, was dismissed 
on account of certain differences of opinion among the congregation 
when the revivalist Whitefield had preached here. The Rev. Thad- 
deus Maccarty, who at that time had a parish in Kingston, was dis- 
missed from the church there for the very reason that Mr. Burr 
had been dismissed from Worcester. He nevertheless succeeded the 
second minister as pastor here. 



22 



Some HISTORIC HOUSES of WORCESTER 



TOWN HALL 

"This hall was the birthplace of the old 'Free Soil' party, and here 
was its cradle rocked . . . by men who have been since most 
honored in the councils of the nation, including Sumner, Wilson, 
Adams, Allen, Hoar, Palfrey, and Walker." — From Wall's Rem- 
iniscences 

On historic Worcester Common, near the Old South Church, once 
stood the Town Hall, about which cluster many memories of historic 
interest. The corner-stone of the building was laid on August 2, 1824; 
and the following year the hall was dedicated with appropriate 
exercises, Governor John Davis and the Rev. Aaron Bancroft being 
among the speakers. The lower part of the building contained a hall 
in which public gatherings were held, while the upper story had 
smaller rooms for the use of the Masonic orders and the Agricultural 
Society. At once the Town Hall became the centre of town life. The 
famous cattle shows — annual events that drew thousands of visitors 
to Worcester — were held on the Common, while the agricultural 
exhibits were made in the Town Hall. As the need grew for larger 
quarters, the hall was rebuilt and changed considerably in order to 
accommodate the rapidly increasing population. The greatest change 
of all occurred in 1848, when Worcester became a city and when the 
building was converted into the City Hall. After its first enlarge- 
ment in 1841, it was, until the building of Mechanics Hall (in 1857), 
the largest one in the city. On this account it became the rostrum of 
political conventions; and here, according to Wall, the old " Free Soil " 
party was born on June 21, 1848. The press of the time describes 
this first meeting as " a meeting of the citizens of Worcester opposed to 
the nominations of Gens. Zachary Taylor and Lewis Cass for presi- 
dency," and adds that the gathering was " large and enthusiastic as 
any ever assembled in Worcester." 

Among the speakers at this meeting was Judge Charles Allen who 
offered the memorable resolution: "Resolved, That Massachusetts 
wears no chains, and spurns all bribes ; that Massachusetts goes now, 
and will ever go, for free soil and free men, for free lips and a free 
press, for a free land and a free world." 

This was but the beginning of the memorable contest that before its 
close drew to the old Town Hall at Worcester such men as Daniel 
Webster, Charles Sumner, and Abraham Lincoln. Victory followed 
the party born here; and two years after its principles were first set 
forth Charles Sumner was placed in the seat of Daniel Webster in 
the United States Senate, while Henry Wilson, associated with Charles 
Allen in establishing the " Free Soil " party, died Vice-President of 
the LTnited States. 

In the old Town Hall (years ago torn down to make way for the 
present City Hall) were held the lectures of the Worcester Lyceum; 
here Jenny Lind sang in 1851; here were given the memorable con- 

23 




Di ? 
P S 



o s 

o 

> 



Some HISTORIC HOUSES of WORCESTER 





THE ISAIAH THOMAS HOUSE 



Taken for Ihe Bank 



certs of the Germania Band, of which Carl Zerrahn was the flutist 
and William Schultze the first violinist. 



ISAIAH THOMAS HOUSE AND OI^aCE 

Isaiah Thoynas, printer, publisher, and bookseller, just before the battle 
of Lexington removed his press to Worcester. He published the 
Massachusetts Spy, established the second paper-mill in the 
county, founded the American Antiquarian Society, and zvrote 
The History of Printing in America. 

Still standing a little back of the Court House for which Isaiah 
Thomas gave the site is the home of the famous Revolutionary 
printer and benefactor of Worcester. His little office on Court Hill 
in which he did his work has long since been removed to the Rural 
Cemetery, where, though greatly changed, it is carefully preserved. 
The life of Isaiah Thomas is filled with New England romance. In 
fact, it well represents the stirring times in which he lived. He was a 
native of Boston; and at the age of seven, " though he kne^ only the 
letters, and had not been taught to put them together and spell," he 

25 



Some HISTORIC HOUSES of WORCESTER 

was apprenticed to Zecharlah Fowle, printer of ballads. Alounted on 
an eighteen-inch stool in order to reach the type-boxes, the young 
apprentice performed his tasks. At the age of seventeen he went to 
Nova Scotia, where he edited and printed the Halifax Gazette until 
his denunciations of the Stamp Act became so rabid that he was 
obliged to seek his fortune elsewhere. After looking for employment 
in various parts of New England and the South, he returned to 
Boston at the age of twenty-one, and there became a partner of 
Fowle, his former master, in the publication of the Massachusetts 
Spy, a paper destined to become a power among the Patriots. There- 
after the young printer gave all his energy to the cause dearest to 
him. He became an ardent member of the Sons of Liberty. Fre- 
quently he worked all night in order that hand-bills for circulation 
through the colonies might be ready on the following morning. At 
last, so many times had his life been threatened and so perilous had 
his position become, he went shortly before the battle of Lexington 
to consult with John Hancock and others. It was deemed best for 
him to remove to Worcester; and, returning to Boston, he packed 
his presses and types, and, guided by General Joseph Warren and 
Colonel Timothy Bigelow, came by night to Worcester, where he set 
up his press in the basement of Colonel Bigelow's house in Lincoln 
Square. Here was resumed the publication of the famous Spy, bearing 
over the top the words, " Americans! — Liberty or Death! — Join or 
Die!" The number issued May 3, 1775, was the first printing done 
in Worcester. Later the Spy contained the first account of the battle 
of Lexington. Mr. Thomas became one of the most prominent pub- 
lishers in America, and at one time he was among the best-know^n 
men on either side of the Atlantic. He served as postmaster at 
Worcester from 1775 until 1802. He became a bookseller, book- 
binder, and manufacturer of paper, having established the second mill 
in the county at Quinsigamond village in 1794. In 18 12 he founded 
the American Antiquarian Society, which first kept its collections 
in Isaiah Thomas's house, and later was removed to Antiquarian 
Hall, built on Summer Street by Mr. Thomas for the society. After 
a singularly active life Mr. Thomas in 1802 retired to devote some 
years to the preparation of The History of Printing in Aynerica and 
The Foundation of the American Antiquarian Society. " A most pub- 
lic-spirited citizen," says Benjamin Thomas Hill, " Air. Thomas gave 
liberally, not only to private charities, but to every local public work. 
He gave the land upon which the Court House was built in 1801, and 
personally supervised its erection and the laying out of the grounds 
about it. He laid out and gave to the town the street that bears his 
name, and a lot upon it for a school-house. He contributed largely, 
both in money and in time, to the enlargement of Lincoln Square and 
the building of the stone bridge there; he was one of the founders and 
one of the most substantial supporters of the Second Parish. He was 
a member of many of the learned societies of the country, including 
the historical societies of Massachusetts and New York. In 18 14 he 

26 



Some HISTORIC HOUSE S of WORCESTER 

received the degree of Master of Arts from Dartmouth College, and 
in 1818 that of Doctor of Laws from Alleghany College. He was 
a prominent Mason, and was at one time grand master of the Massa- 
chusetts Grand Lodge. From February, 1812, to June, 1814, he 
was one of the justices of the Court of Sessions." 

The death of Isaiah Thomas occurred on April 4, 183 1, at the age of 
eighty-two. 

(^, \Rni\r.R CTI.WlM.bR IfnrSF, 

Near zvhich, in honor of the marriage of Hannah Chandler in 1778, 
Burgoyne's Band played during the ceremony 

Gardiner Chandler, whose mansion (built by him about 1750) 
stood on Main Street, opposite the Common, was a brother of that 
Colonel John Chandler called in England, after his exile from_ America, 
" the Honest Refugee " on account of his allegiance to the king. The 
Boston News-Letter of October 16, 1760, notes the fact that the " house 
of Mr. Sheriff Chandler and others of that town [Worcester]_ were 
beautifully illuminated on account of the success of his Majesty's 
Arms in America," the item referring to Amherst's victory at Montreal 
in September of the same year. Even after the outbreak of the Revo- 
lutionary War, when Hannah, daughter of Gardiner Chandler, was 
married to John Williams of Boston, Burgoyne's Band came down 
from Rutland, and played before the house the entire evening. The 
master of the house had been a brave officer in the French and 
Indian War, after which his native town bestowed many honors on 
him, among others that of the office of sheriff. John Adams in his 
diary speaks of the Chandler brothers as 'Svell-bred, agreeable people." 
The Chandler Mansion, after being for some years occupied by the 
family, was finally owned by Judge Barton until its removal to make 
way for a modern brick block. 

Though SheriflF Chandler, in spite of his Tory sympathies, was left 
unmolested by his fellow-townsmen even after the selectmen had 
dubbed him among " the esteemed enemies to this and the other 
United States of America," his brother. Colonel John Chandler, met a 
less kindly fate. It may be that the action of his son, Clark Chandler, 
the town clerk who was obliged to blot out an entry he made on the 
town books, had something to do with his father's exile. At any 
rate both the son and father were banished and their property was 
confiscated. At the time of his banishment John Chandler was by 
far the richest man in Worcester. He had been the largest contrib- 
utor toward the building of the Old South Church, where, clad in 
his bright red clothes, he had been a conspicuous attendant. He 
never returned to Worcester again, but spent his remaining days in 
England, where he died in 1800. 

The mansion house of " the Honest Refugee " was eventually bought 
by Ephraim Mower in 1803, after Mrs. Chandler had ceased to 
live in it. The house had been given her as a special dower by the 

27 



Some HISTORIC HOUSES of WORCESTER 



town. It was converted into the Sun Tavern, which in 1818 gave place 
to the United States Hotel, the old house being moved to Mechanic 
Street. It is an interesting fact that the first tavern in_ Worcester 
was built about 1722 on this site by Captain Moses Rice. Clark 
Chandler, the son of Judge Chandler, eventually returned to Worces- 
ter, where, after he was imprisoned and finally pardoned, he succeeded 
in establishing a store. 

Paine recalls that it was " from the Chandler house, in 1786, that 
the Rev. Aaron Bancroft, just called to settle over the Second parish in 
Worcester, was married to Lucretia Chandler, daughter of Col. 
Chandler, and for a while occupied the house. It was in the fall 
or winter of 1786, at the time of the famous Shays rebellion, when 
the leader of the insurgents demanded that some of his men should 
be admitted to the Chandler house, that Dr. Bancroft refused to 
admit them, saying that they could not come in except over his 
dead body." 

Among the distinguished grandchildren of Colonel Chandler were 
George Bancroft (the historian), the wife of Governor John Davis, 
and the wife of Governor Levi Lincoln. 



ABIJAH BIGELOW HOUSE 

In front of this house Squire Bigeloiv planted several pear-trees for the 
refreshment of the thirsty ivayfarer, — luithoiit reckoning on the 
depredatio7is of small boys 

" In talking with my friend not long ago, I used the phrase ' to 
run like a lamplighter.' 'And how do lamplighters run?' was the 
rejoinder. And my mind went back to old, almost forgotten times, 
when, as a little girl, I stood, in the dusk of the winter evening at my 
grandfather's parlour window to see the lamps lighted. A little old 
man, muffled up in a comforter, came along at a dog trot, with his 
short ladder and oil cans, and putting the ladder against the post 
lit the evening lamp, and ran on to the next one. And so we used 
to say ' run like a lamplighter.' " Thus charmingly Elizabeth Bigelow 
Updike begins one of the gems of New England literature,— a little 
book called In the Old Days, privately printed in Boston in 1896, 
in which she describes the home of her grandfather (" Squire " Abijah 
Bigelow) that once stood on Front Street at the corner of Church. 
The house eventually was made into the first City Hospital. 

Here in the large white wooden house lived the kindly " Squire " 
of old and established family, dispensing generously a hospitality 
for which he was justly famous, and enjoying to^ the utmost his 
gardens, his silkworms and bees. His family consisted of one son 
and four daughters, — Anne, Mary, Hannah, and Lucinda. Outside 
of his office was a sign in gilt letters, on which was the name " Abijah 
Bigelow, Counsellor" at Law." Inside were well-filled bookshelves, 
and here the " Squire " attended to business and prior to the Mexican 

29 



Some HISTORIC HOUSES of WORCESTER 




From a photograph 



LolUcluni of tlu 1; 

THE ABIJAH BIGELOW HOUSE 



rudii i iil:qudridn Sotuty 



War swore in recruits. " The office," continues Mrs. Updike, " was 
always full of interest. IVIy grandfather, who was a quiet, scholarly 
man, singularly devoid of worldly ambition, for a good many years 
amused his leisure moments by keeping silkworms in its upper story. 
I think there was a craze for them about this time, and I used to 
admire extremely the cocoons, covered with yellow silk, which I was 
not allowed to touch. I don't know what practical purpose this ever 
answered — probably none — but I remember that the crawling things 
were superseded by bees and a plentiful yield of honey." 

It was Squire Bigelow who, mindful of the needs of the thirsty 
wayfarer, conceived the idea of planting pear-trees in front of his 
house, in order that those who needed fruit might help themselves. 
Unfortunately, he reckoned not on the boys of the neighborhood, 
who were thick as bees long before the fruit was ripe. And many 
a time the " Squire," flourishing a cane, was obliged to run to the 
front door to scatter the youngsters. A pear was never known to 
remain long enough to ripen. The garden at the rear of the Bigelow 
estate was especially beautiful. 

The interior of the Bigelow house showed the quaintness of its day. 
The handsome staircase, near which hung the fire-buckets required 
in the olden time; the "west parlour," where was the piano, the 

30 



Some HISTORIC HOUSES of WORCESTER 

first owned in Worcester; the old chairs and old mirrors and old 
prints, and the hall-clock that ticked away the wonderful hours,— 
were all a part of the old-fashioned, delightful home-life that belongs 
to a century ago. Modern buildings now occupy the site of the 
Bigelow House; but to-day, as the wayfarer passes the corner on 
which it once stood, it is pleasant to recall " Squire " Bigelow's pear- 
trees, and, on passing the spot where once flourished the garden, to 
revive the odor of its mignonette. 

XAlllAX BALDWIX-EATON HOISE 

A notable disputant of his day — Nathan Baldzuin — lived here. He 
is recalled by John Adams, and is rernembered as the author of 
spicy instructions to the General Court 

For many years Nathan Baldwin was the registrar of deeds 
in Worcester. Though he did not live long after the close of the 
Revolutionary War, during the conflict he was a leading figure, a 
friend of Colonel Timothy Bigelow, and one of the organizers of the 
Political Society. It is believed that Mr. Baldwin owned and occupied 
this house about 1760. As early as 1755, when John Adams canie to 
Worcester as schoolmaster, Mr. Baldwin had already established 
a record as a " notable disputant," being then engaged in a religious 
controversy that was sweeping through the town. Baldwin himself 
was regarded as something of a skeptic. 

Among the forceful writings of Mr. Baldwin are his instructions 
to the representative in 1767: "That you use your influence to obtain 
a law to put an end to that unchristian and impolitic practise 
of making slaves of the human species in this province." It was dur- 
ing the war that Baldwin's pen caustically condemned speculation in 
foodstuflfs and other goods, and branded those who speculated in them 
as " an augmented number of locusts and canker-zvorms, in human 
form, who have increased and proceeded along the road of plunder, 
until they have become obviously formidable, and their contagious 
influence dangerously prevalent — pestilential mushrooms of trade, 
which have come up in the night of public calamity, and ought to 
perish in the same night." 

After the " notable disputant's " death in 1783 the part pf his estate 
on which his house stood passed to his son-in-law, Nathaniel Coolidge, 
who sold the house to William Eaton. Mr. Eaton improved the 
estate, though it has been recalled that his pig-pen, which stood 
next to the Calvinistic Congregational Church, of course proved 
disagreeable to the worshippers. They couldn't help themselves in 
any way, as a man owning a place might keep his pigs, and as many 
as he wanted, where he chose. On Mr. Eaton's demise in 1859, well 
past his ninetieth year, his daughter. Miss Sally, whose birth had 
occurred in 1800, lived in the old home. In 1887 she passed away in 
the room in which she was born. 

31 



Some HISTORIC HOUSES of WORCESTER 




From ij pholognip'i 



Kininc 
THE BALDWIN-EATON HOUSE 

Main Street 



■ of Benjamin Thomas Hill 



An interesting article in the Worcester Magazifie, published just be- 
fore the demolition (about fifteen years ago) of the old landmark to 
make way for the Thule Building at the north corner of JMain and 
George Streets, recalls Miss Eaton: "Had all that Sally Chadwick 
Eaton told of the times so vividly remembered been recorded, many 
items to-day subjects of dispute, would be settled beyond peradventure. 
The growth of the city was a subject of never-ending wonder. She was 
eight years old when the brick building opposite was erected, and 
became in canal times the ' Blackstone House,' though the public 
dubbed it the ' Canal Boat.' . . . She said that it was possible for 
her to stand in the old front door, and see skaters from Fox's mill 
to Lincoln Square." Fox's Mill, referred to by Miss Eaton, was at the 
southerly end of Green Street, and is also known as the Old Red Mill. 

The last owner of the estate was Dr. Rebecca Barnard, who 
cherished the traditions for which the old mansion was justly known. 
The house at the time of its demolition was considered the oldest 
house then standing on its original site in the city. There arose 
a question after it was torn down as to whether Mr. Baldwin was the 

32 



Some HISTORIC HOUSES of WORCESTER 

builder, and it was pointed out that the house stood on a part of a 
tract of fifty-four acres given by the original proprietors of the 
town to Daniel Hey wood in 17 14. Hey wood deeded a part of the tract 
to his son-in-law, Asa Moore, a blacksmith; and in 1757 the black- 
smith sold his part of the tract to Samuel Moore " with my house and 
barn and also my blacksmith shop." In 1768 the property was 
conveyed to Nathan Baldwin; and it is assumed that the dwelling 
later known as the Baldwin-Eaton House was built with Asa Moore's 
blacksmith's shop as a basis, and that added to it was a small house 
that he moved from another part of the town. 



EXCHANGE COFFEE HOUSE 

Where Washington and Lafayette had breakfast 

The old Exchange Coffee House still stands at the corner of Main 
and Market Streets, but much altered from the original tavern that 
Nathan Patch built in 1784. For more than a quarter of a century 
after the Revolution it was the leading public-house in Worcester, 
and probably no tavern here has had a greater variety of names. 
When it was first opened, it was called the United States Arms. 
During the well-known period when Colonel Reuben Sikes, of stage- 
line fame, made it the starting and departing point for stage-coaches 
to all parts of New England, the hotel was known as Sikes's Coffee 
House and Sikes's Stage House; while under the regime of Captain 
Thomas it was called Thomas's Exchange Coffee House and Thomas's 
Temperance Exchange, the temperance movement having then just 
begun. Later it was known as the Exchange Hotel and The Ex- 
change Coffee House, and as such maintained its place as one of the 
leading hotels in Worcester up to the time of the opening of the rail- 
roads, about 1835. 

Three historic events that occurred at this tavern make it an 
interesting landmark, — its connection with Shays's Rebellion in Sep- 
tember, 1786, the visit of Washington in 1789, and that of Lafayette 
in 1825. 

In the eventful September of 1786, when Shays's men prevented 
the opening of court at the Court House, Chief Justice Artemas 
Ward held court at this tavern; also in the following November, when 
the insurgents still reigned over Worcester. The tavern again came 
into prominence in 17S9, when Washington visited here for the second 
time during his tour of New England after he had been elected Presi- 
dent. His journe}' to Worcester was a continuous reception, and 
great preparations were made for his visit here on October 23. A 
delegation of some forty citizens marched to the Leicester line to 
meet the Chief Executive, who, as soon as he came in sight of the 
Old South Church, was greeted by the roar of cannon. The Worces- 
ter Company of Artillery was the occasion of comment by the Presi- 
dent. After breakfasting at the Exchange Coffee House (then the 

33 



Some HISTORIC HOUSES of WORCESTER 







llj S.UII.KI, b. THOMAS, (III.- ,.ri«ci,l l'ru|.rl. l..r ) 



Is me of ihf Ur^e^l ukI uK»t Mnmiatlroud F.^iEil 
C(»iifc«lal>l'- Htlri-luii.i.ls «i lliu Hoiiv. V i. i— 
opfiosile tbc New Uriilt Clurrb. iin.i v -' 
And rafkna other iiiijitifijiit jil^w ■ 



II 1 .1 .\iilii|i..iniiii llnll, 4V uillr. Ir.iu. I: ...i. 

< <> \(\il: .la iIk' uiil> uiij^yrldiil S|.>,< 111 
< iiii>i;v« may W Jiud at Uk- atiurlcM nuh> t. 



,j.,i \i:l.f>of WcMiiHir, 

, nj.l 1.. NoM-Yyil, AHmti)-, 
•Ufevs iiwvmg Jiinne ibi Jay 



From a prinl 



Kindness of Benjamin Thomas Hill 



United States Arms), President Washington passed through town 
on horseback; and after the presidential salute he was escorted several 
miles along his route. 

Lafayette on his way from Albany to Boston, where he was to 
assist in laying the corner-stone of Bunker Hill Monument, stopped 
for breakfast at the Exchange Coffee House on June 15, 1825. This 
was the general's second visit to Worcester; and, though he was 
travelling at as great speed as stage-coaches would allow in order 
to be in Boston for the ceremony, he had a brief rest at the tavern, 
to which he was accompanied by his son, George Washington 
Lafayette, and his private secretary. The old tavern at this time 
was in its heyday, having passed nearly two decades under the man- 
agement of Colonel Reuben Sikes, one of its most notable owners, 
who did much to connect the towns of New England with stage-coach 
lines, and who was one of the founders of the lines between Boston 
and Hartford. His successor, Captain Samuel B. Thomas, kept the 
tavern at the time of Lafayette's second visit to Worcester. 



34 



Some HISTORIC HOUSES of WORCESTER 




From a photogravure 



Tniii.'ni,, KoUrIi 



K indue 

THE TRUMBULL MANSION 

TRl'MBULL MANSION 

Built in 1J51, and used by the courts until 1801. _ The scene of the 
gathering and dispersal of Shays's men in 1786 

More than three-quarters of a century ago the Second Court House, 
built in 175 1 and used by the courts until 1801, was converted into a 
dwelling-house, and moved to Trumbull Square, from which in 1900 
it was moved to its present site on Massachusetts Avenue and rebuilt 
by Susan Trumbull. Amid its present lovely surroundings there is 
nothing suggestive of the former seat of justice nor of the turJDulent 
scenes of which the old mansion was a witness when it occupied its 
first site on Court Hill. And it is hard to imagine jiist how im- 
portant and picturesque a part " court weeks " played in the_ early 
history of Worcester, and the splendor of the judges in their red 
robes and wigs, " more solemn and more pompous," as John Adams 
suggests, " than that of the Roman Senate when the Gauls broke in 
upon them." With so solemn an assembly in the Second Court House 
we must picture to ourselves the flood of life that surged through Main 
Street, the festive scenes enacted there, and the gay parties that came 
to town to celebrate, and lastly the motley groups of jockeys that 
came from all parts of Worcester County to help the festivities. 
The familiar tradition of Old Grimes, who always gave as much 
trouble as possible to the guardians of the law, is frequently recalled. 

Grimes had made a bet that he could ride a horse into the court- 
room. At full gallop he started down Main Street, rode pell-mell 
into the Court House, and straight into the court-room, where, on 

35 



Some HISTORIC HOUSES of WORCESTER 

meeting the indignant look of lawyers and judges assembled there, 
he gallantly removed his hat, and with a fine sweep of his arm an- 
nounced that his horse had run away and seemed bent on attending 
court. The horse, as though to confirm her master's mischief and 
complete the wager made, kicked up her heels and left the mark of a 
hoof on one of the doors. 

The Court House was the centre of the stirring events of Shays's 
Rebellion, which began early in 1784, when the Court of Common 
Pleas, because of the poverty caused by the war, was swamped with 
several thousand suits. When two years passed without the progress 
that was deemed necessary, an army of men gathered, marched to 
Worcester, and took possession of the Court House, openly defying the 
justices and members of the bar to enter, in September, 1786. At 
the beginning of this reign of lawlessness, General Artemas Ward, 
then chief justice of the Court of Common Pleas, and formerly first 
Commander-in-chief of the American Revolution and victor of the 
evacuation of Boston, was summoned to quell the rebellion. Strange 
to say, Captain Daniel Shays, the ringleader, was a former captain 
of Ward. On the first Tuesday of this eventful September, 1786, Gen- 
eral Ward and his court of jurists were ordered to halt on their way 
to the Court House. Hardly had this order been given, when clear 
and sharp came General Ward's command, " Present arms! " 

This order was obeyed within a short distance of the spot where 
to-day the motto, " Obedience to Law is Liberty," is carved on the 
present Court House. With military tread General Ward and his 
party passed up the hill. 

Presenting fixed bayonets, former oiftcers, neighbors, and friends of 
General Ward greeted his approach. Nearing the entrance, he was 
met by bayonets that pierced his clothing. Steadfastly refusing to 
retreat. General Ward heard the drums beat and the order given to 
charge. In wrath the old officer faced his soldiers: — 

" I do not value your bayonets ; you might plunge them into my 
heart; but while that heart beats I will do my duty; when opposed 
to it, my life is of little consequence; if you will take away your 
bayonets and give me some position where I can be heard by my 
fellow-citizens and not by the leaders alone, who have deceived and 
deluded you, I will speak, but not otherwise." 

The muskets, at the clear note of command in the speaker's voice, 
were dropped. A way was made, and Chief Justice Ward for two 
hours addressed the people. Eventually abandoning Worcester as 
the scene of their uprising, the Shays leaders scattered their forces 
over other parts of Massachusetts, always pursued by the vigilance of 
General Ward. Relentlessly he followed them, even when they 
camped opposite his own house and the sparks of their camp-fires 
snapped in front of the very threshold over which he passed to and 
from his labors. Eventually he stamped out the rebellion and put 
the last misguided soldier to flight. So in Worcester began and ended 
the notorious Shays Rebellion, which but for the iron hand of the 

36 



Some HISTORIC HOUSES of WORCESTER 

old Revolutionary general might have kindled larger fires in the 
Commonwealth. 

After it was decided to erect a new Court House, the old building 
was sold, and the then colossal task of removing it from Court Hill 
to Trumbull Square was undertaken. Twenty yoke of oxen were em- 
ployed; and, as the task was not completed when Sunday came, the 
house was left that day in the middle of Main Street. Eventually 
the house became the property of James and Thomas H. Perkins, Bos- 
ton merchants, who founded the Boston Athenaeum and the Perkins 
Institution for the Blind. Dr. Joseph Trumbull with his family lived 
in the house, and here have occurred fifteen births, nine marriages, and 
seven deaths of the family. The mansion was torn down in 1899, the 
timbers purchased by Miss Susan Trumbull. The house was rebuilt 
by her and the Court Room restored by her. The mansion is now 
owned by Mary Louisa Trumbull Roberts. 

Probably no city can boast of a better preserved landmark nor 
one with which are associated more noted names. Here assembled 
the Chandlers, Paines, Putnams, and Ruggleses, all Loyalists; here 
presided General and Chief Justice Artemas Ward and Judge and 
Governor Levi Lincoln; here preached the Rev. Aaron Bancroft, of 
the Second (Unitarian) Parish, from 1785 to 1792, when the present 
church was completed; here was the scene of the Shays riots; and here 
for nearly a century have lived members of the Trumbull family, 
cherishing the traditions of the mansion and thereby lending dignity 
and beauty to the ancient dwelling. 



LEVI LINCOLN MANSION 

Here were entertained Lafayette, John Quincy Adams, Edivard 
Everett, Henry Clay, and Abraham Lincoln 

One of the historic spots in Worcester was formerly occupied by 
the King's Arms Tavern and later by the Levi Lincoln Mansion, in 
its last days converted into a hotel and known both as the Worcester 
House and the Lincoln House. A part of the site is now occupied 
by the Lincoln Block at Main and Elm Streets. As early as 1732 one 
Captain Thomas Stearne kept a tavern here; and in 1772, just when 
the war-clouds of the Revolution began to gather, his widow, Mary 
Stearne, became his successor, and kept the hostelry until her death 
in 1784. Mrs. Stearne in her ancient dwelling, bearing on its sign- 
board the king's arms, witnessed many of the stirring events that 
preceded the Revolution; for here assembled ardent Loyalists, and 
here in 1774 was prepared by Dr. William Paine, James Putnam, 
and others, the famous Loyalist protest. It is a well-known fact that 
this protest was entered on the town books by the town clerk, Clark 
Chandler, who was afterward compelled by the Worcester Patriots 
in their presence " to obliterate, erase, or otherwise deface the said 
recorded protest, and the names thereto subscribed, so that it became 



Some HISTORIC HOUSES of WORCESTER 

utterly illegible and unintelligible." The " illegible " page in fac-simile 
is familiar to students of Worcester history, whereon not only was 
each line carefully checked out, but afterward Clark Chandler was 
requested to dip his finger into the ink and further obliterate the 
record. A vote was then passed, advising the clerk to be more care- 
ful in the future regarding the discharge of his duties and not to give 
the town the trouble of calling another special meeting regarding his 
behavior. 

On the eventful day in July, 1776, when a messenger riding post- 
haste from Philadelphia to Boston, and bearing a copy of the Decla- 
ration of Independence, stopped in Worcester to bait his horse, the 
paper, as we have elsewhere stated, was read by Isaiah Thomas in 
front of the Old South Church, and afterward the crowd assembled 
went to the Court House and there removed the British arms. After 
burning the emblem, they repaired to the King's Arms Tavern, where 
a similar fire was kindled with the arms from that hostelry. Among 
the toasts drunk that evening were: — 

" May the enemies of America be laid at her feet! " 

" Perpetual itching without benefit of scratching, to the enemies of 
America! " 

''George rejected and liberty protected!" 

" Sore eyes to all Tories, and a chestnut burr for an eye-stone ! " 

" May the freedom and independency of America endure, till the sun 
grows dim with age and this earth returns to chaos ! " 

About 1784 the old tavern with eighty acres of land was purchased 
by William Sever, whose daughter became the wife of Levi Lincoln. 
Some years later Mr. Lincoln built on the tavern site the mansion 
that became one of the show-places in Massachusetts. It remained 
his residence from 1812 until 1835, and during these years were enter- 
tained in it some of the most famous men America has known. The 
stately mansion was surrounded by trees and shrubs that enhanced 
the natural beauty of the spot. Just prior to his building a new home, 
Governor Lincoln had Elm Street cut through, toward which his 
former dwelling in its later days faced. This was after stores had 
been built on the spacious grounds that fronted Main Street. 

The notable years of the Lincoln Mansion are from 1825 until 
1834, when Levi Lincoln was chief executive of Massachusetts. After- 
ward he was representative to Congress and the collector of the port of 
Boston. To the mansion in 1824 came Lafayette, passing through 
Main Street between throngs of men, women, and children assembled 
to do him homage. At the gates of the Lincoln Mansion thousands 
greeted the distinguished Frenchman; and on entering the house he 
was received by a committee whose chairman. Judge Lincoln, said 
in part: — 

" Your name, sir, is not only associated with the memorable events 
of the Revolution, with the battle of Brandywine, the retreat from 
Valley Forge, the afi"air near Jamestown, and the triumph at York- 
town, but the memorials of your services, and our obligations, exist in 

39 






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Some HISTORIC HOUSES of WORCESTER 




-"^-^■^-irGf^Si 



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1 i^il^t^l^j 



From a print 



Kinl 

THE LINCOLN HOUSE i860 
Main Street 




J I lu oln Newton Kinnicutt 



the Independence of the nation, which was accompHshed in the govern- 
ment of the people, which is estabHshed in the institutions and laws, 
the arts, improvements, liberty, and happiness which are enjoyed. 
The sword was beaten into the ploughshare to cultivate the soil which 
its temper had generously defended, and the hill-tops shall now echo 
to the seashore the gratulations of the independent proprietors of the 
land to the common benefactor of all ranks and classes of the people." 

Lafayette, after expressing his deep appreciation to the citizens of 
Worcester for their kindness, was conducted to the dining-room, where 
breakfast was served. He greeted the citizens again in the afternoon, 
and stood at the gate of the Lincoln Mansion while the troops marched 
past. A committee accompanied his coach for several miles on its 
way to New York. 

Other distinguished guests entertained at the Lincoln Mansion were 
Daniel Webster, John Quincy Adams, Edward Everett, and Henry 
Clay. After Governor Lincoln built his new mansion on Elm Street, 
now occupied by his grandson, Waldo Lincoln, his former home was 
converted into a hotel and called the Worcester House. David T. 
Brigham was its first owner and proprietor. When the Lincoln 
House Block was built, the entrance of the hotel was transferred to 
Elm Street, and the name changed to the Lincoln House. Famous 



41 



Some HISTORIC HOUSES of WORCESTER 

guests were received here. In 1837 a dinner was given to John Bell 
of Tennessee and William G. Graves of Kentucky, who had won their 
way into the graces of Worcester County politicians through their 
friend and champion, Henry Clay. Daniel Webster on July 3, 1848, 
addressed from the front portico of the hotel a crowd gathered on 
the grounds. Abraham Lincoln in 1848 was a guest at the Lincoln 
House, having made a speech in the old City Hall and afterward 
another from the portico of the old depot on Foster Street. 

ICHABOD WASHBURN HOUSE 

" Ichabod Washburn raises his house without using any ardent spirits. 
Believed to be the first instance of the kind in New England." — 
Diary of Christopher C. Baldwin, May 28, 1829 

Not least among the blacksmiths who began their careers in Worces- 
ter is Ichabod Washburn, an excellent representative of the indomitable 
spirit of New England, — honest, devout, thrifty, and benevolent. In 
the spring of 18 14, when he was sixteen years old, following the custom 
of the young men of the day who went forth to seek their fortunes, 
young Ichabod walked from Kingston to Worcester, where, with the 
promise of six weeks' schooling every year, he was to learn his trade 
as a blacksmith in the shop of Ira Robinson. The homesick days that 
followed the boy's arrival at " Sikes's Tavern " he frequently recalled 
in after-years, adding that his two great companions were his Bible 
and a Memoir of Harriet Newell. Before his apprenticeship was 
ended, he visited his birthplace in Kingston, and has graphically de- 
scribed his journey of seventy miles on horseback. His wardrobe, 
carried on one side of his saddle-bag, was scant, — almost as scant as 
the provisions carried on the other side. His funds at the time con- 
sisted of an uncurrent five-dollar Ohio bank-bill and a three-dollar 
bill. Much to his disappointment, one of the bills was discounted at a 
tavern where he offered it in payment for oats consumed by his horse. 

On his return to Worcester in 1819 he again busied himself at a 
forge; and one day, while employed at his work, he was asked to 
contribute toward a fund then being raised. Scarcely knowing what 
to do, he was urged by a bystander, " Put down fifty cents, young 
man, and you will soon see it come back to you again." This was 
the beginning of the benevolences that long before Mr. Washburn's 
death resulted in the giving of thousands of dollars to the town of his 
adoption. 

Soon afterward Mr. Washburn began the manufacture of lead pipe, 
— an industry then in its infancy in America. On the increased 
demand for woolen machinery, Mr. Washburn took into partnership 
Benjamin Goddard, with whom he established the firm of Washburn 
& Goddard, employing thirty men and having the distinction of making 
the first woollen condenser and long-roll spinning-jack that was made 
in Worcester County, and one of the first in America. 

Mr. Washburn, after manufacturing wire and wood screws, began 

42 



Some HISTORIC HOUSES of WORCESTER 




From a photograph 



Kindness of A. G. Warren 



THE ICHABOD WASHBURN HOUSE 



in 183 1 to manufacture iron wire, improving his machinery constantly. 
In 1834 Stephen SaHsbury buih a mill for Mr. Washburn, who 
continued the manufacture on his own account until 1850, when 
he took into partnership his son-in-law, P. L. Moen. The museum 
of the American Steel and Wire Company to-day is rich in reminders 
of the founder of this business in Worcester. 

In 1829 Ichabod Washburn built the house recently torn down at 
the corner of Arch and Summer Streets. He had considerable diffi- 
culty in securing workmen who were willing to do without their 
rations of rum; but after a careful canvass, when everybody seemed 
to be of the opinion that, if he waited for men to go without rum, 
he would be a long time without a house, on promise of substantial 
remuneration he succeeded in having a house-raising without rum. 
This is said to be the first instance of the kind in New England. 
Instead of stimulants, lemonade, crackers, cheese, and small beer 
were served. 

Mr. Washburn's benevolences to Worcester were many. He con- 
tributed generously toward the erection of Mechanics Hall, giving 
outright $25,000. He was also instrumental in the building of the Bay 
State House, where years ago so many noted men assembled when 

43 



Some HISTORIC HOUSES of WORCESTER 

In the city. The Mission Chapel building and the Industrial School 
were built by him, and on his death he left a large sum for the endow- 
ment of the first City Hospital. These are but instances of the many 
institutions mentioned in his will. 

But, above all, — with due consideration for Ichabod Washburn 
as a benefactor and successful business man, — he must be regarded 
as a fine representative of the rich old New England stock that once 
possessed so much noble courtesy, well described by Frothingham: — 

"Tho' modest, on his unembarrassed brow 
Nature has written Gentleman." 



JOHX S. C. ABBOIT HOL'SE 

" / have written fifty-four volumes. In every one it has been my 
endeavor to make the inhabitants of this sad world more broth- 
erly, — better and happier." — John S. C. Abbott 

John S. C. Abbott, member of the famous Bowdoin College class of 
1825, in which also were graduated Longfellow, Hawthorne, and 
Cheever, began, it is said, his literary career in the house once standing 
near the corner of Lincoln and Frederick Streets. Dr. Abbott was 
born in Brunswick, Maine, September 18, 1805, and, while living amid 
the then primitive conditions of his native State, laid the foundation 
for the vigor and sturdiness that characterized his life-work. His 
student life at Bowdoin College has been summed up by Mr. S. P. 
Benson, an eminent lawyer, who was his classmate. " John," he said, 
" never did a mean thing, he never said a coarse thing, he never had 
an enemy while he was in college." 

It is an interesting fact that, while students at Bowdoin, Abbott 
and Longfellow, at the suggestion of some college-mates, each wrote 
a poem. A committee was appointed to decide which was the bet- 
ter, it having been previously recognized that both young men had 
decided literary ability. Strange to say, Abbott won the laurels, 
though, so far as is known, he never afterward seriously considered 
writing verse. After his graduation from college, Dr. Abbott became 
the principal of the academy at Andover, Massachusetts. Eventually 
he graduated from Andover Seminary, and afterward accepted a call 
from the Central Calvinistic Church at Worcester, beginning his 
pastorate there in the latter part of 1829. 

It was while living in his Lincoln Street house that Dr. Abbott 
delivered before a mothers' association of his parishioners a series of 
lectures concerning the life and duties of the parent, drawing freely 
from his memories of homes he had known. Undoubtedly, his own 
lovely home-life in Maine and his mother's tender care and patience 
formed a part of his theme. Having made a success of a little book 
that he had published for children, Dr. Abbott, at the suggestion of 
his friends, concluded to offer his lectures for publication under the 

44 



Some HISTORIC HOUSES of WORCESTER 




Prom a photograph 



Ktn.hir 

THE JOHN S. C. ABBOTT HOUSE 



,!^,,n,ni I humas Hill 



title of The Mother at Home. Immediately there was a demand for 
the volume; and the publisher, who had reluctantly accepted the task 
of printing the book, reported a sale of ten thousand copies in six 
months. The book appeared in England, and was translated into 
many European and Asiatic languages. 

While filling his office as a clergyman for forty years. Dr. Abbott 
occupied eight different pulpits. His Worcester pastorate extended 
from 1829 until 1834, when illness prevented his resuming his work for 
about a year. It was probably during this time that he seriously 
considered a literary career. His brother, the Rev. Jacob Abbott, 
became famous as the writer of the " Rollo " books. Probably Dr. 
Abbott earned his fame by his Life of Napoleon I. He began this 
work, for which he was greatly criticised, at a time when a deep-seated 
hatred was felt in America for Napoleon, when the great French 
general was judged by English standards, when the then well-known 
Cape Cod epitaph was felt to be true, — a belief in which Dr. Abbott 
himself once shared: — 

"Beside this stone, beneath this sod, 
Lies Bonaparte, the scourge of God, 
Virtue's detractor, Freedom's end. 
Hell's benefactor, Satan's friend. 
While here the tyrant sleeps in death. 
Let us thank God he took his breath." 

45 



Some HISTORIC HOUSES of WORCESTER 



Dr. Abbott nevertheless wrote of Napoleon as he actually believed 
him to be from studies he had made in both America and France. 
He supplemented his first volume by an equally interesting one, the 
Life of Napoleon III., and, while preparing it, visited Paris and con- 
versed with Louis Napoleon. The Napoleon family rewarded his 
services on its behalf by presenting him with a gold medal valued 
at about fifty dollars, this being given in acknowledgment of a copy 
of his history that had been presented to the emperor. 

Following his daily motto, " Hard writing makes easy reading," Dr. 
Abbott constantly wrote and rewrote whole volumes. Of his Lives of 
the Presidents, and indeed of every book he wrote, he said, " I wish 
to make this the best book I have ever written." Dr. Lyman Abbott 
some years ago recalled the methods of the historian: " In his work 
of composition he was accustomed to read up on the topic till he was 
thoroughly familiar with it. Then, closing his eyes, he would by a 
rare power of historic imagination transport himself into the scene 
which he was about to describe and paint with his pen what he had 
seen in a mental vision. He had a rare power of abstraction, and, 
what is still more rare, a power of coming out of the past and return- 
ing to it again almost instantly. His study was always accessible; his 
children came and went; he never declined himself a caller; and, 
however busy he might be, I think he never regretted to see a friend. 
He would leave the death-bed of De Soto or the battlefield of 
Napoleon, answer a question about the household or give a greeting 
to a caller, and go back to his unfinished picture without losing from 
it a figure or a color." 

Among Dr. Abbott's other important works are: Napoleon at St. 
Helena; Kings and Queens; The French Revolution; History of the 
Civil War in America; The Romance of Spanish History; Prussia 
and the Franco-Prussian War; History of Frederick the Great; Histvry 
of Maine; and The History of Christianity. 

Though Worcester cannot claim to be the home of Dr. Abbott during 
his riper and more prolific years as an historian, still, as in the case 
of many writers, it nurtured the young man when he was at the begin- 
ning of his career; and, in the days when fame came, Worcester 
looked on him with something of the benign countenance with which 
Longfellow — Abbott's classmate — greeted his mates, on that mem- 
orable occasion (in 1875) of the fiftieth anniversary of their gradua- 
tion, with the words of the immortal gladiator, " We who are about to 
die salute you ": — 

"For age is opportunity no less 
Than youth itself, though in another dress, 
And as the evening twilight fades away 
The sky is filled with stars, invisible by day." 



46 



Some HISTORIC HOUSES of WORCESTER 



OLD ANTIQUARIAN HALL 

To this famous library came young Elihu Burritt, " tlw learned black- 
smith," that he might read the books it contained in the moments 
he could spare from his forge 

It was a fortunate circumstance that caused young Elihu Burritt 
to turn his footsteps toward Worcester when the vessel he had hoped 
might be going from Boston to Europe failed to sail. Previously his 
small earnings had been swept away in the financial panic of 1837; 
and, with alfhe owned in the world tied up in a pocket-handkerchief, 
young Burritt walked from his birthplace, New London, Connecticut, 
to Boston, and thence to Worcester, where he heard that the American 
Antiquarian Society offered the advantages of a splendid library to 
all who cared to avail themselves of its use. Having in his boyhood's 
days scant advantages for schooling and having been apprenticed to a 
blacksmith at the age of fifteen, the young man came to Worcester 
prepared for toil as well as for books. He worked for twelve dollars 
a month at William A. Wheeler's Iron Works on Thomas Street; and, 
establishing himself in quarters in Lincoln Square, he had the advan- 
tage of being near his forge as well as Antiquarian Hall, where he 
spent all of his leisure moments. 

By the time Elihu Burritt was thirty years old he had mastered 
fifty languages. He did not pretend to "speak like a native," but 
he liad learned the tongues to such an extent that he was able to read 
anything written in the language he had studied. It was while in 
Worcester that an illegible manuscript, written in Danish, was brought 
from the West Indies for translation. Several colleges were unable to 
decipher it; and finally it was offered to Mr. Burritt, who after a great 
deal of labor succeeded in translating it, and refused any higher valua- 
tion of his time than that spent away from his forge. Shortly after- 
ward there was brought to him a strange account of the shipwreck 
of a vessel on one of the South Sea Islands; and, in order to secure 
Insurance In Boston, it was necessary to learn the account, which was 
written in the dialect of the natives. Harvard had given it up; and, 
after It had been offered to several professors, Mr. Burritt succeeded in 
translating It. 

Many quaint books at the Antiquarian Hall claimed the learned 
blacksmith's attention, among them a Celto-Breton dictionary and 
grammar, with the aid of which he wrote a letter to the French Society 
of Antiquaries, thanking them for the opportunity to learn the original 
language of Britanny. Not long afterward a large volume was 
delivered to him at the forge, which contained an exact copy of his 
letter and an explanatory note, saying that the original was absolutely 
correct. Taking courage from small successes, Mr. Burritt in the 
summer of 1838 wrote to William Lincoln of Worcester, offering his 
services as a translator of German. He modestly gave his qualifica- 
tions; and so impressed was Mr. Lincoln with the communication that 

47 



So 



me 



HISTORIC HOUSES of WORCESTER 




From a print 



Collection of the A meriran A ntiquarian Society 
THE OLD ANTIQUARIAN HALL 



he handed it to Governor Edward Everett, who read it in an address 
given by him before a Teachers' Institute, in which he referred to 
Burritt as the " learned blacksmith." The Everett speech was printed 
in full in the Boston papers, and after its appearance the whole country 
hailed the obscure blacksmith of Worcester. Publicity became un- 
avoidable; and among others came Thomas Nelson, who wrote as 
follows to the Southern Literary Messenger: — 

" I was passing through Worcester . . . and gratified my curiosity 
by calling on him. Like any other son of Vulcan, Mr. Burritt was 
at his anvil. I introduced myself to him, observing that I had read 
with great pleasure, and with unfeigned astonishment, an account of 
him by the Governor of the State, which had induced me to take the 
liberty of paying him a visit. He very modestly replied that the 
Governor had done him more than justice. It was true, he said, that 
he could read about fifty languages, but he had not studied them all 
critically. Yankee curiosity had induced him to look at the Latin 
Grammar; he became interested in it, persevered, and finally acquired 
a thorough knowledge of that language. He studied Greek with equal 
care. An acquaintance with these languages had enabled him to read 
with facility the Italian, the French, the Spanish and Portuguese. 
The Russian, to which he was then devoting his ' odd moments ' he 
said, was the most difficult of any he had undertaken." 

Not long after Governor Everett called him the " learned black- 
smith " did Elihu Burritt remain at the forge. The lecture platform 
claimed him, and almost immediately he began the publication of 

48 



Some HISTORIC HOUSES oj WORCESTER 

the Christian Citizen, — a weekly paper issued in Worcester from 
1844 to 185 1, and devoted to the cause of temperance, self-culture, 
anti-slavery, and peace. It is said to be the first publication in 
America to devote a definite portion of its writings to peace. So this 
great apostle began his mission. On June 16, 1846, feeling that he 
must carry his message on the " Bond of Brotherhood " across the 
Atlantic, Mr. Burritt sailed in the Hibernia. His message on the 
" League of Peace," which already had taken root in America, was 
destined to reap a great harvest on other shores. Friends in Man- 
chester and Birmingham, England, aided Mr. Burritt in drafting his 
plan for an international brotherhood, then and until the end of his 
life his greatest interest. The society was the League of LIniversal 
Brotherhood, and part of the pledge is imbued with the spirit of the 
incorporator: — 

" I do hereby associate myself with all persons, of whatever country, 
color or condition, who have signed, or shall hereafter sign, this 
pledge, in a League of LIniversal Brotherhood, whose object shall be, 
to employ all legitimate and moral means for the abolition of all war, 
and all the spirit and manifestations of war throughout the world; for 
the abolition of all restrictions upon international correspondence and 
friendly intercourse, and of whatever else tends to make enemies of 
nations, or prevents their fusion into one peaceful brotherhood; for the 
abolition of all institutions and customs which do not recognize and 
respect the image of God and a human brother in every man, of what- 
ever clime, color, or condition of humanity." 

To-day's League of Nations plan has nothing loftier than the state- 
ment of the learned blacksmith of New England; and yet in spite of 
the ovations tendered him abroad, in spite of the Peace Congresses 
held at Brussels, at Paris, at Frankfort-on-the-Main, at London, and 
at Manchester, in spite of the great movement associated with such 
names as Victor Hugo, Thomas Carlyle, and Sir Charles Napier, few 
know to-day that Elihu Burritt was ever the apostle of world-peace. 

It was during Mr. Burritt's first visit to England in 1847 that he 
journeyed to Ireland at the time of the famine, and it was through 
his stirring appeals to America that a ship was fitted out under the 
command of Captain R. B. Forbes, of Boston, which sailed with pro- 
visions and clothing for the stricken people. One of the results of Mr. 
Burritt's stay in England was a reduction of postal rates between that 
country and America. At the close of the Civil War Mr. Burritt was 
appointed United States consular agent at Birmingham, England. 
His last years were spent at his birthplace. New Britain, Connecticut; 
and there from 1870 until 1879 the quietest portion of his life was 
passed. His published volumes number about thirty, and among them 
the most popular are A Walk from London to John O'Groat's and 
A Walk from London to Land's End and Back. Elihu Burritt never 
married, affirming " that he loved all women too well to satisfactorily 
connect himself to a single one in the obligatory love of marriage." 



49 



Some HISTORIC HOUSES of WORCESTER 




From a phiili>'^rapli 



Collection of the American Antiquarian Society 
THE BANCROFT HOUSE 



AARON BANCROFT HOUSE 

Here the Rev. Aaron Bancroft wrote his Life of Washington; and here 
in 1800 zvas born George Bancroft, historian of the United States 
and founder of the Naval Academy at Annapolis 

A bronze tablet to-day marks the farm tilled by the Rev. Aaron 
Bancroft when he eked out his small salary as minister in order to 
rear his family of thirteen children, the eighth of whom was George 
Bancroft, the historian. It is a noteworthy fact that the father left 
Harvard to fight at Bunker Hill, after which, determining to preach, 
he began a pastorate in the First Parish (Unitarian) that lasted fifty- 
three and a half years. It is not strange that the son of this minister, 
who combined with his pulpit hard toil on the farm and long hours at 
the writing of history, should himself become interested in not alone 
the pulpit, but the career of an historian. And it reflects no little 
credit upon him that after his entrance at Harvard, when thirteen 
years of age, he was graduated with the second English oration and 
afterward sent by the college to Germany for several years of study. 

Bancroft's mother was Lucretia Chandler, daughter of that Tory, 
Judge John Chandler, whose lands were confiscated at the outbreak of 
the Revolution. As stubbornly loyal to the king as Aaron Bancroft 
was to America, Mrs. Bancroft nevertheless proved a wise mother and 
devoted wife in the Bancroft household. It is said that George 
Bancroft himself owed much of his vigor of mind to this large-hearted 

50 



Some HISTORIC HOUSES of WORCESTER 



mother, whose greatest interest and happiness was rearing her 
family. To a friend George Bancroft once wrote, " I was a wild boy," 
adding that Madam Salisbury was always afraid that " I would get 
her son into bad ways, and still more alarmed lest I should some day 
be the cause of his being brought home dead. There was a river or 
piece of water near Worcester where I used to beguile young Salisbury, 
and having constructed a rude sort of raft, he and I would pass a good 
deal of our play-time in aquatic amusements not by any means unat- 
tended by danger. Madam's remonstrances were all in vain, and she 
was more and more confirmed in the opinion that I was a wild, bad 
boy — a wild, bad boy I continued to be up to manhood." 

Young Bancroft, having been given the first of a series of degrees 
that were to be bestowed on him throughout his life, returned to 
America at the age of twenty-two, and became a tutor at Harvard, 
though he had previously determined to enter the ministry when an 
opportunity presented itself. There followed trying years. His first 
sermon, preached at Worcester in his father's church, was pronounced 
a failure. His subject was " Love," and the delivery of his theme 
was considered altogether artificial. Even his father criticised his 
message and the mannerisms he had contracted in Germany. From 
town to town young Bancroft went, seeking an audience, but found 
none; and finally, no pulpit opening to him, he returned to his work 
as tutor at Harvard, where he found ever-recurring trouble. He next 
attempted to found the Round Hill School at Northampton; but his 
pupils, the sons of wealthy men, failed to respond to his methods of im- 
parting knowledge, and, when given peaches by him in order to gain 
their attention, ended by throwing the pits at their teacher. He turned 
to poetry, and published a book of poems that nobody bought or read. 

It was only when the spirit of Aaron Bancroft, who fought at Bunker 
Hill for what he believed was right, burst forth in the son that success 
crowned his efforts; and his destiny was fulfilled when he stated briefly, 
" I have formed the design of writing the history of the United States 
from the discovery of the American Continent to the present." His 
first volume appeared In 1834; and, after forty years of research work, 
his tenth volume was issued, bringing the history down to the conclu- 
sion of the treaty of peace in 1782. His volumes were hailed as master- 
pieces, and are to-day an authority, recognized the world over. 

After suffering several political defeats, Bancroft was appointed 
Secretary of the Navy under Polk. In 1846 he founded the National 
Observatory at Washington and the Naval Academy at Annapolis. 
After the outbreak of the Mexican War he became ambassador to 
England, where he found himself in the midst of a brilliant group of 
men, among them Carlyle, Thackeray, Macaulay, Hallam, and 
Dickens. On the outbreak of the Civil War he was chosen to deliver 
the great Cooper Institute speech; and on the death of President 
Lincoln it was Bancroft who delivered the funeral oration. Later 
he spent seven years in Berlin during the presidency of General Grant, 
returning at the close of these busy years to Washington, where he was 

51 



Some HISTORIC HOUSES of WORCESTER 

the central figure, honored by the President, the cabinet, and the 
judges of the Supreme Court. When eighty-five years of age, he 
still sprang to his saddle for his daily canter; and every day up to his 
ninety-first year, when he died, the undimmed brilliancy of Bancroft's 
mind was occupied with the research work that he pursued — as he 
himself once expressed it — with the furtive quickness of a raccoon. 

" Are you not imprudent," he was once asked, " at your age to be 
riding on horseback? " 

"Are you not imprudent at your age not to be riding horseback? " 
was his quick retort. 

It has been aptly said that Bancroft not only, like Cicero, wrote 
classics on old age, but " he lived a classic old age." Less than a 
decade before his death, at the age of ninety-one, he said: "I was 
trained to look upon life here as a season of labor. Being more than 
fourscore years old, I know the time for my release will soon come. 
Conscious of being near the shore of eternity, I await with impatience 
and without dread the hand which will soon beckon me to rest." And 
he adds: "Let us old folks cheer one another as we draw nearer 
and nearer to the shores of eternity, which are already in full sight. 
I contemplate my end with perfect tranquillity, thinking death should 
be looked upon neither with desire nor fear. Old age is like sitting 
under the trees of the garden in early winter; the bloom and verdure of 
summer are gone; by their departure it becomes easier to see the 
stars." 

The birthplace of Bancroft in Worcester — where on so many quiet 
evenings the boy listened to the tales of history told by his father, 
where a happy home-life was made for Lucretia and Aaron Bancroft 
by their fine children, where the dignity of labor, whether in books or 
soil, was ever exalted — long since has passed away. 



BRIXLKY HALL 

Once the centre of social life in Worcester. Ralph Waldo Emerson, 
Wendell Phillips, William Lloyd Garrison, and Horace Mann 
lectured here 

Brinley Hall was demolished in 1895 ^^ make way for the present 
State Mutual Life Assurance Building; and, though the block itself 
was not old as compared with many of the other buildings in Worces- 
ter, still in its little more than half-century of existence it had gathered 
about it associations that are still recalled by many who participated 
in some of the events that took place at the old hall. Brinley Hall was 
built in 1836-37 by Benjamin Butman and George Brinley, and much 
of the interior work was performed by persons of no less poetic 
cognomen than John Homer and his son, Virgil Milton Homer. With 
such auspicious beginnings it is small wonder that the hall itself came 
to be the gathering-place for men of letters. On its lecture platform 
appeared Emerson, Colonel Thomas Wentworth Higginson, Wendell 

52 



Some HISTORIC HOUSES of WORCESTER 




From a photograph 



Kindr, 



1 . Emerson 



BRINLEY HALL 
ff'here the State Mutual now stands 



Phillips, William Lloyd Garrison, Horace Mann, and the celebrated 
English phrenologist, George Combe, who toured America in 1838 and 
1839. The hall, until the completion of the town-hall additions in 
1 84 1, was the largest gathering-place in Worcester; and, until the erec- 
tion of Mechanics Hall, here were held all of the large meetings of a 
political or educational nature. An important event in its history oc- 
curred on December 9, 1845, when the first public exhibition of the 
magnetic telegraph was held here by J. E. Strong. New York and 
Springfield had then already been connected, and shortly after Mr. 
Strong's exhibition at Brinley Hall the line was continued to Worces- 
ter and Boston. Here also was held the first convention of Massa- 
chusetts school-teachers. 

Nathaniel Paine, in his Recollections , recalls the concerts given in 
the hall by the Mendelssohn Quintette Club, also the exhibitions of 
Harrington and Signor Blitz, the famous ventriloquists and magicians. 
He speaks of the dancing-masters who there taught the boys and girls 
of the old families to trip on the light fantastic toe, and of the 
" dramatic entertainments," so called in order to avoid the objection- 
able name of theatre. 

On the site occupied by Brinley Block once stood the home of the 
Rev. Thaddeus Maccarty, minister of the Old South Church during the 

53 



Some HISTORIC HOUSES of WORCESTER 

Revolution, and later of his son, Nathaniel Maccarty, who was an ap- 
prentice of Isaiah Thomas when he published the Massachusetts Spy 
here. Another occupant of the Maccarty house was the Rev. Leonard 
Worcester, a brother of Noah Worcester, who also was associated 
with Mr. Thomas and the Spy. 

At the time of the demolition of Brinley Hall, Colonel Thomas 
Wentworth Higginson was asked to send some word concerning the 
hall that had been associated with the Abolitionist movement, and 
later with the soldiers who were drilled there for the Civil War, after 
the close of which it became the Hall of the G. A. R. In response 
to this request Colonel Higginson sent the following communication: — 

" I hear with regret that Brinley Hall is to be demolished, as I have 
many pleasant associations with it. In my brief days of preaching, I 
was the minister of the Worcester Free Church, which first met there 
in 1852, and which had, without any denominational connection, a 
marked influence as a centre for those progressive and even radical 
elements which then abounded in Worcester. Among its founders or 
habitual attendants were men and women who were then or after- 
wards very prominent in the city, — Dr. Seth Rogers, Dr. Oramel 
Martin, Adin Thayer, Oliver Harrington, Theophilus Brown, Albert 
P. Ware, Martin Stowell, Thomas Earle, Harrison Bliss, Caleb A. 
Wall, Sarah Wall, Sarah Earle, Martha Lebaron (afterwards Mrs. 
D. A. Goddard), Sarah A. Butman (afterwards Airs. J. G. King), and 
many others. Stephen S. Foster and his courageous wife, Abby Kelley 
Foster, sometimes came, on the express assurance that they were 
free to 'speak out in meeting' whenever they wished; and it was the 
natural home of abolitionists and reformers generally. It seems to me, 
in looking back, that our somewhat unconventional ways and methods 
were treated patiently and charitably, on the whole, by our more con- 
servative fellow-citizens; and I remember that our joyous Christmas 
festivals in that hall were rather apt to win over the children who 
belonged in more staid organizations, but who found various excuses 
for resorting to Brinley Hall about that time. I am sure that those 
meetings did some people good, and contributed to that vigor of 
thought and action which made Worcester a power in the State; and 
though most of those I have mentioned have passed away, I always 
find that the survivors look back with pleasure to that time and 
place." . . . 

THE AMERICAN TEMPERANCE HOUSE 

Among the distinguished guests received here zvere John Greenleaf 
Whittier, the poet, and Martin Van Buren, Ex-President of the 
United States 

The American Temperance House that once stood at the corner 
of Foster and Main Streets occupied a part of the site of the house 
owned by Captain John Stanton, Jr., who in 1780 married Sarah 
Chandler. The Stanton house was later occupied by Thomas Stevens 

54 



Some HISTORIC HOUSES of WORCESTER 




AMERICAN TEMPERANCE HOUSE, 



Jl) 



•'?'! 



"^ jfj 



ZJ JT JLi 






E^ J 



T/ity > ii(U-iiiii\- I'slillilishiiiilil irus (ipcmit /is n lriiipiriiiHfili'ii\rnilS'.>.i 
hij .\lr. I'l.l'iiiiri: liiis hiiii iiilinytil /lir pus I i/iiir uhni'sl r/ir Inilj'. Iliiti'iifjlilti 
ripiiirril III iiii-i) juirl uml iirirhj jiiniisin il . ti ml i.\ iirir rrinli/ f cr llir unt'iii-' 
iihillili I'j' ill, inihln: _ ll.s priiiliiir Ivrill ii (I i;i nhnji s iirr Irv iippiiriiil li luijiliri 
ilrliiil III iiii) I iilij jriir nils j'l i in tlir f'nshiii A'- H'urrrslir, . Wnirii'h K- W'liri.s- 
Irr mill ll'rslrrii Hull Hi'iids . .1 ifiiiiiiirlil 11 aii-iliissiiii/ lii'uDi miinrliil 
:ritli'llir lli'tisi'. U'liiiii . I'i'hI.iiiiil ■Sliniirr Itiilli.s iiliriii/s in iiii/Iiik ss . liiinil 
lli'isrs <V- Ciiiri,ii/is jhriiisliiil ill slmrl iii<lin\ .llsr 1/ ijin'il .Slulili iillaili, il tii 
llii III IIS r. 



From a print 



Kindness of Benjamin Thomas Hill 



and John W. Stiles until its removal to Mechanic Street in order to 
make way for the First Universalist Church. 

Alfred Dwight Foster in 1835 opened Foster Street and made over 
his dwelling, which he had erected near the Stanton house site, into 
the American Temperance House. During the brief period when it 
was conducted as such it was well patronized and achieved a certain 
notoriety — probably from its name and from the fact that the temper- 
ance movement was then favored by so many men prominent in 
public life. Among those who kept the hotel were Eleazer Porter, 

55 



Some HISTORIC HOUSES of WORCESTER 




From a photograph 



Kindness of Benjamtn Thomas Hill 
THE NATHANIEL PAINE HOUSE 



R. W. Adams, Colonel Warner Hinds and R. W. Adams, General 
Heard and Adams, and Tucker and Bonney — the last-named conduct- 
ing it in 1857, when the hotel was discontinued and converted into 
stores that were known as the American House Block. The hostelry 
with the Lincoln Mansion supplanted the old United States Hotel that 
had been patronized by distinguished guests who visited Worcester. 
Among the most famous guests entertained at the American Tem- 
perance House were John Greenleaf Whittier, the poet; Martin Van 
Buren, then Ex-President of the United States; and Sampson V. S. 
Wilder, who was one of the Massachusetts hosts of Lafayette when he 
visited the State in 1824. 



JUDGE NAIHANIEL FMXF. HOUSE 

At the time of its removal to Salem Street one of the oldest houses in 
Worcester. Here lived Judge Paine, grandfather of Nathaniel 
Paine, historian of Worcester 

The home of Judge Nathaniel Paine formerly stood at the corner 
of Main and Pleasant Streets. It was removed to Salem Street about 
1843. Its master, a judge of probate for Worcester County for thirty- 
five years, was one of the charter members of the Worcester Fire 
Society, the original members of which were Joseph Allen, John Nazro, 
Leonard Worcester, Nathaniel Paine, Samuel Chandler, Ezra Waldo 
Weld, Dr. John Green, Samuel Brazer, Thomas Payson, Edward 

56 



Some HISTORIC HOUSES of WORCESTER 

Bangs, Dr. Elijah Dix, William Sever, Theophilus Wheeler, Dr. Oliver 
Fiske, John Paine, Samuel Allen, Stephen Salisbury, Charles Chandler, 
John Stanton, Dr. Abraham Lincoln, Daniel Waldo, Jr., and Isaiah 
Thomas. On Judge Paine's garden fence the Fire Society kept one of 
the long ladders then in use, this ladder with its mates being in requi- 
sition when any large building was being constructed in the city. 
They were used when the first Worcester Bank was built on Main 
Street in 1804. 

Judge Paine was also one of the founders of the American Anti- 
quarian Society and a charter member of the Morning Star Lodge of 
Free Masons, dedicated in Worcester, June 11, 1793. 

Nathaniel Paine, a grandson of Judge Paine, thus recalls the old 
house: "At the rear was a long extension, in which was an old-time 
kitchen, a large open fireplace with its iron crane being conspicuous 
therein; back of this came the wash-room, etc. In the rear of this 
was the wood-shed, long enough, I should think, to make a good bowl- 
ing alley, then came the corn and grain house, and on the south side, 
next to Pleasant Street, the barn, which was about where the Second 
Baptist Church now stands. Back of this was the orchard and vege- 
table garden, extending nearly up to Chestnut Street. The house was 
surrounded by shade-trees; in front, I remember, were large butter- 
nuts, and on the south side two immense mulberry-trees, while on 
Pleasant Street, along the whole line of the lot, were buttonwoods. 
On the corner was a small one-story building, used as an office by 
Judge Paine. . . . My remembrance of my grandfather, though some- 
what indistinct, is that he was quite tall and very straight, of a florid 
complexion, and rather a stern and dignified appearance. He used to 
wear a long white neck handkerchief wound several times about his 
neck, and a long, light-colored surtout with two or three capes, all of 
which was very impressive to my youthful mind." 



GOODWIN HiJlJSE 

Here zvas born Jane G. Austin, the American author, whose Standish 
of Standish and A Nameless Nobleman ran through many editions 
on their publication a quarter of a century ago. A revival of 
these books has recently been made, oiving to the coming tri- 
centenary of the la?iding of the Pilgrims 

Worcester has played no unimportant part in the world of books, for 
men and women of national renown have been born and have lived 
here. Among the first was John Adams, second President of the 
Ignited States. A contemporary was the Rev. Thaddeus Maccarty, 
minister of the Old South Church, whose published sermons are valued, 
as were those of his successor, the Rev. Samuel Austin, who edited the 
theological works of Dr. Edwards. To Isaiah Thomas we are indebted 
for a valuable History of Priyiting; to Dr. Aaron Bancroft, for a Life 
of Washington. To George Bancroft, son of Aaron Bancroft, histo- 

57 



Some HISTORIC HOUSES of WORCESTER 




lU-iijainin Tlntm,!^ Hill 



THE ISAAC GOODWIN HOUSE 



rians and the public still turn for the History of the United States. 
John S. C. Abbott began his literary career here, and was the first 
man in America to write a popular history of Napoleon Bonaparte. 
Here also began the careers of Edward Everett Hale, Colonel Thomas 
Wentworth Higginson, and Elihu Burritt. 

Jane Goodwin Austin was born during the days when the greater 
number of the men mentioned above were in their prime. George 
Bancroft had then, after repeated failures along other lines, decided 
to write his History of the United States; Colonel Thomas Wentworth 
Higginson and Edward Everett Hale had begun their careers as writers 
and preachers and advocates of the Abolition movement; Elihu Bur- 
ritt, the learned blacksmith, had forsaken the forge for the pen. Jane 
Goodwin Austin had the advantage of living in these stirring times 
as well as the heritage of being a lineal descendant of Governor 
William Bradford of Plymouth Colony. Absorbing the traditions of 
the colony and having the priceless gift of sympathy from her father, 
Isaac Goodwin, a lawyer, and her brother, John A. Goodwin, she 
began to write when very young. Her first success was Dora Darling. 
Later appeared Outpost, Tailor Boy, Cypher, The Shadozv of Moloch 
Mountain, Moon Fold, and Mrs. Beauchamp Brozvn. Her most 
famous books, which in preparation of the tricentenary to be cele- 
brated next year are being revived, are Standish of Standish, A Name- 
less Nobleman, Betty Alden, and Nantucket Scraps. With her brother, 
John A. Goodwin, Mrs. Austin spent many summers at Plymouth; 

58 



Some HISTORIC HOUSES of WORCESTER 

and to the former is credited one of the most complete histories of 
the Plymouth Colony that has been issued. 

The house in which Jane Austin was born stands on Lincoln Street, 
and was designed by her mother, who made a paper model of both 
the interior and exterior of the dwelling. On removing the roof of 
this model, the second floor was shown, with walls and partitions just 
as she desired them. The floor of this story being removed, the ground 
floor was shown in similar detail. Mrs. John A. Goodwin, wife of the 
historian of Plymouth, on a visit to Worcester in 1894 related to Mr. 
Benjamin Thomas Hill an interesting anecdote concerning her husband 
and the old milestone that now stands in front of " The Oaks." Mr. 
Hill's manuscript notes state that, " when John A. Goodwin, the son 
of Isaac Goodwin and the historian of Plymouth, was six or seven years 
old, his mother sent him to Lincoln Square for a pot of red paint, 
and on his return, coming to the old milestone on Lincoln Street, 
opposite Linwood Place, the idea struck him that it would be well to 
give the front of the stone a coat of red, which he accordingly did. A 
few days later his mother was in need of some blue paint, and he was 
again sent to the Square for it; and this time he painted the back of 
the stone. A few years ago, when Mr. and Airs. John A. Goodwin 
were in Worcester, they examined the stone, and found traces of red 
and blue paint still upon it." 

Jane Goodwin was married in 1850 to Loring H. Austin, of Boston; 
and in that city her " at homes " were among the brilliant gatherings 
of the day. She died in 1894 ^^ the age of sixty-three. To John A. 
Goodwin, her elder brother, with whom she so frequently worked, she 
dedicated her most famous novel, Standish of Standish, in the closing 
chapter of which she ends with an appeal for Bradford, Brewster, 
Winslow, and Howland: " Shall we not . . . cherish them and study 
them more than we ever yet have done, feeling in our hearts that those 
virtues, that courage, and that nobility of life may be ours as well as 
theirs, may illustrate the easy life of to-day, and make it less unworthy 
to be the fruit of the Tree of Liberty, planted in the blood and watered 
bv the tears of our fathers?" 



HOME OF EDWARD EVERETT HALE 

"I built the house in 1852 at the highest point of Hammond Street. 
Our dear friend, Dr. Joseph Sargent, had given me the land. Mr. 
Elliot Cabot had drawn the plans of the house." — Edward 
Everett Hale 

Few men of New England have been more loved than Edward 
Everett Hale; and, although Boston claimed him during his early 
as well as his last days, there was an interesting decade — from 1846 
to 1856 — when he was a minister in Worcester, where, after having 
previously been an extensive contributor to the Advertiser, then owned 
by his father and published in Boston, he really began his literary 

59 



Some HISTORIC HOUSES of WORCESTER 




From a plintograph Taken for the Bank 

THE EDWARD EVERETT HALE HOUSE 

career. Dr. Hale was pastor of the Church of the Unity in Worcester, 
where he gathered about him the interesting men and women of the 
day, showing here many of the characteristics that caused him later to 
be called by Dr. Holmes the living dynamo. When he first began 
to preach here, he was asked if he could serve on the school com- 
mittee; and it was characteristic of Dr. Hale that he should answer, " I 
had far rather be overseer of the poor." 

Boston's grand old man, whose massive, cloaked figure and Jove-like 
head were so familiar to those who dwelt there, died in Roxbury, 
Massachusetts, June ii, 1909, at the age of eighty-seven. He had 
been chaplain of the United States Senate, a famous Unitarian 
preacher, an author, a journalist, and philanthropist. It will be re- 
membered that at the time of his death the press of America had 
tributes from great men on both sides of the water. Writers recalled 
the fact that Dr. Hale entered college at thirteen years of age, and 
that he began his journalistic career by reporting for his father's 
paper the speeches of Choate and Webster. Worcester men recalled 
the life of Dr. Hale during the decade he served as minister in the city. 
In Worcester he wrote Margaret Percival in America and his Kansas 
and Nebraska papers for free-soil emigrants. His first real work of 
fiction, A Man zvithout a Country, — written during the Civil War 

60 



Some HISTORIC HOUSES of WORCESTER 

and first published in the Atlantic Monthly, — gave him a national 
fame, as did also his numerous essays, biographies, and stories. His 
life at his home in Roxbury combined all the indefatigable industry of 
the scholar with the strong and charming personality of a successful 
divine and social genius. 

Dr. Hale's pastorate at the South Congregational Church in Boston 
began in 1856, the year he left Worcester. Though having spent but 
a brief ten years in the latter city, it ever held a warm place in his heart. 
His many friends there frequently drew him back to Worcester, and 
here the work of the American Antiquarian Society was especially dear 
to him. At the library of this society on Salisbury Street is a rare little 
volume written by Dr. Hale, Worcester in 18 jo, said to be the first 
attempt to make an illustrated guide-book of the then little more than 
a country village. In his complete works Dr. Hale speaks affection- 
ately of Worcester, when, after recalling his boyhood, he says: " These 
W under jahre ended on the 29th of April, 1846, when I became the 
minister of the Church of the Unity in Worcester. Worcester had 
been a quiet shire town, but was just awakening to its position as 
centre of a great railway system. My father had built the railway 
to Worcester, and had directed the initial surveys of that to Albany. 
My friend, Frederic Greenleaf, the Henry Wadsworth of Ten Times 
One, told me that, with his own hand, he threw the switch which 
opened the way to Springfield of the small four-wheeled car which 
contained all the freight which Boston had to send West on that day." 

It is interesting to note that this young Worcester freight agent also 
was the inspiration of the motto of Ten Times One: — 

"Look up and not down; 
Look out and not hi; 
Look forward and not back; 
Lend a hand!" 

This motto is inscribed in all of the rooms and literature of the 
Lend-a-hand Society established by Dr. Hale, which has branches all 
over the world. 

Dr. Hale, while in Worcester, lived for a time at what was then 23 
Park Street, near the corner of Green Street, with the publisher, M. D. 
Phillips. Later he removed to 23 Main Street, and it was from this 
house that he departed for his wedding journey to Hartford. Later 
he made his home on Hammond Street, at what is now No. 17. In 
1903 he visited the house, and pleasantly recalled: " I visited it last 
Sunday to find the pear-trees I planted in 1853 are fifty years older 
than they were then. Dr. Joseph Sargent had laid out what is now 
Hammond Street for my convenience. I named it Whitney Street, 
surreptitiously engaged my friend, Mr. Dexter Rice, to paint the sign; 
and Whitney Street it was named in honor of Mrs. Sargent [Airs. 
Sargent's husband had given Dr. Hale the land], whose maiden name 
was Whitney. But in an unfortunate gale one night the sign broke 
down, and in one of his early rides the doctor found it. He took it into 

61 



Some HISTORIC HOUSES of WORCESTER 



his 'chaise,' carried it to the painter, and changed the name into 

Hammond Street, Hammond having been the maiden name of Mrs. 
Sargent's mother, and Hammond Street it has remained from that day 
to this." 

HOME OF THOMAS WENTWORTH HIGGINSON 

"Here dwelt the Rev. T. W . Higginson when he prepared the essays 
which gave a new impetus to out-of-door life and study; who 
tvillingly imperilled his life for the escaped slave; in no uncertain 
way encouraged John Brozvn in his efforts to liberate a race, and 
in the face of social disbarment zvas ready to lead the first regi- 
ment of black jneti raised in the War of Liberation." — Tribute 
from the Worcester Magazine. 

Although the name of Thomas Wentworth Higginson is associated 
with Cambridge, where he was born and educated, just as Edward 
Everett Hale's name is associated with Boston, where he was born, 
still it is an interesting fact that both men began their literary work in 
Worcester, while serving as ministers here. Their early training was 
gained in the midst of some of the finest minds New England has 
produced. They both belonged to most distinguished New England 
families, Higginson's first ancestor in America being the Rev. Francis 
Higginson, pastor of the First Church in Salem and first minister in the 
Massachusetts Bay Colony, while an ancestor of Hale was that Nathan 
Hale who gave his life for the cause in which he believed. Both were 
Harvard graduates, clergymen, writers, anti-slavery men, and lifelong 
champions of freedom. After leaving college, young Higginson acted 
as tutor in Brookline until his return to Cambridge, where he evinced 
the influence that such preachers as Theodore Parker and James 
Freeman Clarke had had on him. Being more and more drawn 
toward the ministry, the young man spent some years at Divinity 
Hall, after which, in 1847, he was installed as minister at New- 
buryport, Massachusetts. Here his preaching was more or less inter- 
fered with by his anti-slavery convictions and by the influence of John 
Greenleaf Whittier. Coming as pastor of the Free Church to 
Worcester in 1848, Mr. Higginson at once entered with great intensity 
into the Abolition movement, and it was undoubtedly from the house 
formerly standing on the corner of Harvard and Bowdoin Streets that 
he set forth on the journey to Boston to aid in the rescue of Anthony 
Burns, the negro whom he and others defended from a mob in one 
of the most stirring episodes in American history. 

It was in a later Worcester home — at 16 Harvard Street — that Mr. 
Higginson prepared his first contribution to the Atlantic Monthly, 
entitled " Saints and their Bodies." Here also he wrote his delightful 
Outdoor Papers , scenes of which were laid in and about Worcester and 
that include "April Days," "Water Lilies," "My Outdoor Study," 
" The Procession of the Flowers," " The Life of Birds," and " Gym- 
nastics." The influence of these papers was very great. Dr. Dudley 

62 



Some HISTORIC HOUSES of WORCESTER 




A/ler a pen-and-ink sketch by George E. Gladwin 



Kindness of Miss Gladwin 



THE THOMAS WENTW'ORTH HIGGINSON HOUSE 

A. Sargent, physical director of Harvard University and founder of the 
famous Sargent Gymnasium at Cambridge, was deeply interested in 
them, and it is said that he was led by them to devote his life to this 
branch of training. John Burroughs, while a country school-teacher 
in New York, read them with great interest, and in a recent letter to 
the writer paid tribute to Colonel Higginson's lucid and pleasing ^style, 
and adds that he was " among our earliest literary naturalists." 

Mr. Higginson established a gymnasium in Worcester, and he also 
encouraged sports on Lake Quinsigamond. A vignette reproduced 
in this brochure shows the old floating bridge across the lake, and also 
In the distance what is supposed to be the headquarters of a boating 
and swimming club that Mr. Higginson founded. An amusing story, 
the scene of which was undoubtedly somewhere within range of this 
view, was told by a writer in the Worcester Magazine some years ago. 
"His old friends," the account runs, "tell with great gusto of an 
early attempt [of Higginson] to use a Worcester-made wherry, by no 
means up to modern standards. It was flat-bottomed, but it must 
have had points of beauty, for had not its owner, fresh from his Tenny- 
son, dropped into poetry, thus — 

'And round about the prows he wrote, 
The Lady of Shalott'.' 

63 



Some HISTORIC HOUSES of WORCESTER 

" I'nhappilw the waterman had not rowed a boat's length from the 
landing before he capsized, but his tall form permitted him to rise 
above the waves, and, with the ' Lady of Shalott ' under his arm, Sir 
Launcelot waded ashore. As he wended his dripping way homeward, 
he proclaimed his dip to have been in the wettest part of the lake." 

When the Kansas and John Brown troubles arose, the young minis- 
ter dashed into the fray, and on the outbreak of the Civil'War he took 
command of a regiment of colored troops that saw service in South 
Carolina, Georgia, and Florida. After two years' service, Colonel 
Higginson was wounded, and in 1864 was obliged to retire from the 
army. 

The remainder of his life is closely associated with Newport and 
Cambridge, and also parts of Europe. One of his most delightful 
books, written in his Newport home, is called An Oldport Rornance. 
His Oldport Days and Malbone were also written in Newport. 

In London, Colonel Higginson was introduced at the famous 
Athenaeum, and there met Darwin, Lord Houghton, and Carlyle. On 
returning to Cambridge, he frequently visited Salem, where his first 
ancestor in America was minister; and his essays on "Old Salem Sea 
Captains " and " Travellers and Outlaws " are among some of the best- 
known contributions about the seaport town. 

In 191 1 the Boston Transcript published a check-list of the writings 
of Colonel Higginson for the use of collectors. In this list are included 
all of the magazine articles, pamphlets, essays, biographies, that he 
produced. There are several columns of his works; and, as titles are 
here and there examined, one almost wonders that one man could 
have written so much and so well. The writer remembers an address 
given by Colonel Higginson, just a few months before his death, at a 
service in memory of the Shaksperian author, William J. Rolfe, of 
Cambridge. In spite of his then eighty-seven years, the hoary head 
of Colonel Higginson was not bowed, and he walked unassisted to the 
platform and paid his tribute to his friend with a remnant of the force 
that must have been his in the days when he fought for John Brown 
and Anthony Burns. The voice of the dauntless Colonel Higginson 
then was heard; and it is the same voice we hear in these stirring lines 
of tribute to Whittier: — 

"They say our city's star begins to wane. 
Our heroes pass away, our poets die. 
Our passionate ardors mount no more on high. 
'Tis but an old alarm, the affright of wealth. 
The cowardice of culture, wasted pain! 
Freedom is hope and health! 

The sea on which yon ocean steamers ride 
Is the same sea that rocked the shallops frail 

Of the bold Pilgrims; yonder is its tide, 

And here are we, their sons; it grows not pale, 

Nor we who walk its borders. Never fear! 
Courage and truth are all." 

64 



Some HISTORIC HOUSES of WORCESTER 



THE OREAD 

"The State of Kansas should be named Thayer. I zvould rather 
accomplish zvhat Eli Thayer has done than have ivon the victory 
at Nezv Orleans." — Charles Sumner 

The Oread stands on what was once Goat's Hill, its battlements 
outlining themselves in lofty dignity against the sky, preserving in 
their every contour an indefinable something that reminds the beholder 
of the exalted purpose that inspired Eli Thayer when he established 
his institute in Worcester. Though to-day devoted to other purposes, 
this magnificent pile of stone represents to the stranger the solidity 
and far-reaching accomplishments, along other lines than those of 
education, of the builder, who was born in the little town of Alendon, 
Massachusetts, a century ago. Unfortunately, at the time when he 
needed aid in procuring an education, his father's country store proved 
a failure; and the lad was left to till the soil while lie awaited an 
opportunity to prepare for college at the Manual Labor School in 
Worcester, to which he eventually came, walking the entire distance 
from Mendon. Not least is Eli Thayer among the boys who have 
walked to Worcester in order to procure an education. 

He knew no Latin nor Greek; yet, after a year's study here, he pre- 
sented himself at Brown University, and it proved on examination that 
he was deficient only in mathematics. Promising to '' make up " this 
study, if he were admitted, young Thayer was graduated at the head 
of his class in this branch. 

He entered college with nothing, paying for his board and tuition 
by teaching in district schools and by getting odd jobs as carpenter, 
wood-sawyer, and landscape gardener. He came out of college with 
several hundred dollars to the good. It is small wonder that, having 
received his start in Worcester, he returned here to act as principal 
of the very school — now Worcester Academy — at which he had 
been fitted for college. Then began his career as educator, inventor, 
promoter of emigration, and legislator. Convinced that young women 
should be given the advantages of higher education, he established in 
1 85 1 the Oread Institute on Mount Oread. He also took an active 
part in the welfare of Worcester, interesting himself deeply in the 
development of real estate. He commenced the study of law under 
Pliny Merrick, justice of the Court of Common Pleas. Later he 
served on the school committee, also as alderman, as member of the 
House of Representatives, as member of Congress, as confidential 
agent of the United States Treasury, and delegate for Oregon to the 
National Republican Convention in i860. He invented a sectional 
safety steam boiler, an automatic boiler cleanser, and an hydraulic 
elevator, engaging for some time in the manufacture of elevators. 

Two memorials to-day remain to Eli Thayer, — his castle on the 
mount in Worcester, where he made possible a vast advance in the 
education of young women, and — a national memorial — the State of 

65 



Some HISTORIC HOUSES of WORCESTER 








from a prinl 



Kindness of Lincoln Newton Kinnicult 



THE OREAD 



Kansas, which Charles Sumner affirmed should have been named 
Thayer, adding that he would rather have to his credit the accom- 
plishment of Eli Thayer than have won the victory at New Orleans. 
For Eli Thayer, when the nation threatened to be permanently sev- 
ered, sat down in the State Capitol and thought things out. His 
problem was to bring order out of chaos and to save the Union. His 
conclusions, after securing private co-operation, he voiced in the meet- 
ing held in City Hall at Worcester, Aiarch ii, 1854, at which he stated 
that Kansas should be made an anti-slavery State. The Kansas- 
Nebraska bill had just been introduced in Congress, giving these two 
States the right to vote for or against slavery. The danger of Kansas 
going over to the South was at once apparent to Mr. Thayer, and 
the result of his efforts to save it was the organization of the New 
England Emigrant Aid Society, of which he was the backbone, and 
the beginning of the Kansas crusade. 

Edward Everett Hale says: "When in 1852 . . . Mr. Eli Thayer 
of Worcester, with the foresight of a statesman, made his great plans 
for emigration to Kansas, which saved Kansas as a free State, I 
was close at his side, and I tried to render material assistance in 
that effort. My father gave us the full use of the Daily Advertiser, 
which was the leading paper of New England. Mr. Greeley in the 

66 



Some HISTORIC HOUSES of WORCESTER 

Tribune published our articles as editorials. A dozen other leading 
newspapers favored the cause of emigration in the same way. I went 
almost everywhere in New England, addressing audiences on Kansas 
and the way to it. I was on the Executive Committee of the Emi- 
grant Aid Company, which for years kept close connection with 
the new-born States. The Company had the satisfaction of seeing 
Kansas admitted as a free State in 1861." 

Mr. Thayer carried out his work in the midst of great difficulties, 
frequently opposed by the public, which for the most part failed to 
give him the confidence he so much needed. Among his strongest 
supporters were Theodore Parker, Lucius M. Sargent, and Henry B. 
Stanton. President Lincoln, several members of the military staff, and 
the majority of Congress also approved of his later plan, proposed 
during the Civil War, to colonize Florida,- — an undertaking that, 
after the great meetings held in New York and Brooklyn favoring it, 
had to be abandoned on account of other military operations. 

It was in 1856 — the year of his Oregon speech — that Mr. Thayer 
began the " friendly invasion " of Western Virginia with free-state 
settlers. There he founded the town of Ceredo. It was during these 
days that things were more or less lively among his opponents, and 
their activities were brought to a climax on the admission of Kansas, 
when a price was offered for the head of the Yankee who had 
organized his forces so well. Thayer, however, still continued to 
forward supplies and men. He sent out saw-mills and grist-mills; 
and a certain Davy Atchison, on beholding a section of these moving 
forward, remarked, " There goes another Yankee city ! " In the 
founding of Ceredo alone, Mr. Thayer brought more than five hundred 
families to the State and spent about a hundred and eighteen thousand 
dollars in developing the city. IMuch of his work there was undone 
by the Civil War, the soldiers during their occupancy taking every- 
thing in the place. 

One of the greatest trials that Mr. Thayer had to endure was the 
active opposition of such Abolitionists as William Lloyd Garrison and 
Wendell Phillips. John Brown, who at one time interested Mr. 
Thayer, came to Oread to see him, and represented that he was raising 
money for arms and ammunition with which the Kansas settlers 
might defend their homes. Mr. Thayer gave generously to the fund, 
but afterward learned that Brown never sent a rifle to Kansas, but 
had taken those purchased to Virginia for his own use there. 

It was not until 1877 that Mr. Thayer visited Kansas, this being 
his first and last visit. On September 12 of that year he accepted an 
invitation to address a meeting of the old settlers there. He was 
given a royal welcome by the ten thousand persons assembled, 
and a few years later a marble bust of Mr. Thayer was unveiled in the 
State House at Topeka, where impressive ceremonies were held in his 
honor. It is not strange that a life so active as that of Eli Thayer 
should at the end find us regretting that the nation he had served 
so well failed to respond fittingly to his services. Like all men of 

67 



Some HISTORIC HOUSES of WORCESTER 

merit, however, an appreciation of him has grown with the years. His 
last days were spent in Worcester; and here at his home, 800 Main 
Street, Eli Thayer died on April 15, 1899, the last services for him 
being held at the great stone castle he had built on Mount Oread. 



(^.OVERNOR JOHN DAVIS MANSION 

"Next morning the sun zvas shining brightly, and the clear church 
bells were ringing, and sedate people in their best clothes enlivened 
the pathzvay near at hand and dotted the distant thread of road. 
There was a pleasant Sabbath peacefulness on everything zuhich 
it zvas good to feel." — Dickens, in his American Notes of a 
Worcester Sabbath 

Guarded by stately elms, the former home of Governor John Davis 
stands on Lincoln Street, near the southern corner of Catherine. 
Within the last score of years there lived in Worcester those who 
remembered well the visits of the distinguished guests who were 
entertained by Governor Davis; for he was famed as a host, of 
pleasing personality and remarkable conversational powers, — valu- 
able gifts to the man whose official duties covered a quarter of a 
century. To this mansion came the judges of the Supreme Court of 
Massachusetts; George Bancroft, the historian, whose sister. Miss 
Eliza Bancroft, married Governor Davis; and Charles Dickens on his 
first visit to America in 1842. 

Governor Davis — called affectionately by his native State " Honest 
John " Davis — was one of Worcester's most distinguished residents. 
Born in Worcester County of parents who industriously tilled the soil, 
his early years, spent in working on the home-farm, resulted in giving 
him a healthy mind and body. He was graduated from Yale in 1812; 
and, after studying law in the office of the Hon. Francis Blake of 
Worcester, he was admitted to the bar in 1815. Thereafter began his 
period of a quarter of a century of public service, during which he 
served his State in Congress, as governor, and as a member of the 
Senate, until 1853, when he retired to private life, and passed his last 
days in the Lincoln Street mansion. As a lawyer, he was renowned 
for his grasp of a subject; and the background of his remarkable 
knowledge was gained in his hours of quiet study in his stately home. 
In his later days he especially devoted himself to the study of 
ancient and modern history and to the reading of the classics, among 
them Caesar, Tacitus, and Livy. It is a notable fact that three eminent 
contemporaries — Clay, Calhoun, and Webster — all died within a short 
time of Governor Davis. These men were frequently compared, the 
brilliance of each mind discussed, and in many cases it was thought 
that Governor Davis was the master of the group. C. Hudson, whose 
manuscript copy of the " Character of John Davis " is in the collection 
of the American Antiquarian Society, says: "If one reads for mere 
pleasure, he will be more gratified with the glowing fervor and spark- 

69 



Some HISTORIC HOUSES of WORCESTER 

ling wit of Clay, the subtle metaphysics of Calhoun, or the concise and 
demonstrative logic of Webster; but, if he reads to gain a detailed 
knowledge of the question under debate, he will find Mr. Davis more 
instructive perhaps than either, certainly more logical than Clay, more 
practical than Calhoun, and more minutely instructive than Webster." 

From his mansion Governor Davis was borne after his death, 
and for a time Mrs. Davis lived there. The estate was eventually 
sold, and is now one of the finest places in the city. 

Undoubtedly one of the most brilliant occasions at the Davis 
Mansion was the visit of Charles Dickens in 1842. Worcester was 
the second American city visited by the author, Boston, where he 
had arrived on January 21, being the first. Governor John Davis 
invited Dickens to spend Sunday at Worcester; and Dickens, after 
the elaborate reception given him the preceding week, was pleased 
to retire to a quieter spot for a brief rest. He arrived in Worcester 
on February 5, and remained until the 8th, a period in which a 
typical New England winter had set in, causing the author to remark, 
" A sharp, dry wind and a slight frost had so hardened the roads when 
we alighted in Worcester that their furrowed tracks were like ridges 
of granite." His description of Worcester occupies less than a page. 
Many have assigned the reason for this to the fact that Dickens's 
entertainment here was private and not public, and that he rigidly 
adhered to English etiquette and a sense of honor in speaking no 
further of his experiences while a guest of the governor. 

Side-lights, however, on this visit have come down from various 
sources. At the Worcester Historical Society is a copy of lines 
from Pickwick that Dickens wrote as a souvenir for Mrs. Davis. It 
has been pointed out that this very paper reposes in a building on 
the " distant thread of road " mentioned by Dickens in his description 
of a Worcester Sabbath. The press of that time, strange to say, gave 
scant heed to his visit. Indeed, if the brief reports can be trusted, a 
secret grudge seems to have been nursed that the author came to 
Worcester at all. Possibly this method was taken to voice opposition 
to Governor Davis. A paper politically opposed to the governor 
tersely remarks: " Boz, the author of Pickwick, etc., with his wife, 
came up from Boston Saturday with Governor Davis and passed 
the Sabbath with him. The governor introduced his general friends 
to his guest on Saturday evening and his particular friends on Sunday 
evening." Another paper described Dickens as " a middle-sized per- 
son, dressed in a brown frock coat, a red-figured vest, somewhat 
of the flashy order, and a fancy scarf cravat that concealed the dickey; 
a gold watch guard over his vest, and a shaggy great-coat of bear 
or buffalo that would excite the admiration of a Kentucky huntsman." 
Another paper — the Massachusetts Spy — with great brevity men- 
tioned the author's visit. However, in spite of the pugnacity of the 
press, the people of Worcester seemed to have a great regard for 
Dickens, this fact being demonstrated by the enthusiastic group that 
hailed him from the lawns of the Davis Mansion. 

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Some HISTORIC HOUSES of WORCESTER 



More than a quarter of a century later Charles Dickens again 
visited Worcester, where he was a guest of the Bay State House. _He 
read before a crowded audience in Mechanics Hall on the evening 
of Alarch 23, 1868, his Christmas Carol and the trial scene from 
Pickwick. He had aged greatly, and his face was troubled. Two 
years later, his American trip having perhaps helped to undermine 
his health, he died at the age of fifty-eight at Gadshill, his home in 
Kent. 

AUTHORITIES CONSULTED 

History of Worcester, by William Lincoln; Reminiscences of If'orcester from 
the Earliest Period, Caleb' A. Wall. 

Notes Historical and Chronological of the Town of Worcester, Massachusetts, Ran- 
dom Recollections of Worcester, Mass., 1839-1843, Worcester's Old Common, School 
Day Reminiscences, Bibliography of Worcester History, by Nathaniel Paine. 

Carl's Tour of Main Street, The Worcester Book, from 1637 to 1883, Franklin 
P. Rice; Old Worcester, Mrs. E. O. P. Sturgis; Worcester Legends, Incidents, 
Anecdotes, Reminiscences, etc., by William A. Emerson, corrected by Franklin 
P. Rice; Old Landmarks in Worcester, Massachusetts, and Other Sketches, 
16/3-1914, by William A. and Marion Emerson; Master Minds at the Common- 
wealth's Heart, Percy H. Epler; The Memorial History of Boston, Justin Winsor, 
editor; Brinley Hall Album and Post 10 Sketch Book, Edward P. Kimball, 
publisher; Autobiography and Memorials of Ichabod Washburn, Rev. HenryT. 
Cheever; Six Speeches with a Sketch of the Life of Hon. Eli Thayer; Elihu 
Burritt, Ozora S. Davis; Elihu Burritt, Charles Northend; Reminiscences of 
the Early Life of Elihu Burritt, William H. Lee; Thoughts and Things at Home 
and Abroad, Elihu Burritt; Worcester in 1830, Edward Everett Hale. 

The School History of Worcester, C. Van D. Chenoweth, A.M.; The Story of 
Worcester, Thomas F. O'Flynn; A Memorial of John S. C. Abbott, D.D., 
Horatio C. Ladd; A Memorial Address on the Colonel the Reverend Thomas 
Wentworth Higginson, Laurence Hayward; American Notes, Charles Dickens; 
Old Inns from 1718 to 1918 in their Relation to the General Development of our 
Community, Paul Mange; Remi^iiscences of the Original Associates of the 
Worcester Fire Society, Levi Lincoln; The Life and Letters of George Bancroft, 
M. A. DeWolfe Howe; Genealogy of the Waldo Family, compiled by Waldo 
Lincoln, A.B.; The Second Court House, Benjamin Thomas Hill; Isaiah 
Thomas, Benjamin Thomas Hill; Report of Exercises at the Second Court House, 
afterwards the Trumbull Mansion, on Saturday, June 30, 1900; Historical 
Notes relating to the Second Settlement of Worcester, Lincoln N. Kinnicutt; 
Worcester Main Street in 1822, Henry H. Chamberlin; Recollections of Front 
Street, Worcester, in the Thirties, F. G. Stiles; Recollections of Mechanic Street 
from 1830 to 1840, F. G. Stiles; Proceedings of the American Antiquarian 
Society, Transactions and Collections of the American Antiquarian Society, 
Collections of the Worcester Society of Antiquity, Massachusetts Historical 
Society Proceedings, New England Genealogical and Biographical Record, and 
Boston, Springfield, Providence, and Worcester newspapers and magazines. 

The compilers are indebted to the American Antiquarian Society, 
to Messrs. Lincoln Newton Kinnicutt, Benjamin Thomas Hill, Waldo 
Lincoln, William A. Emerson, and to John Burroughs, to Mrs. 
Harriette Forbes and Miss Emma Gladwin, and to others who have 
assisted in supplying historical data or rare prints and photographs. 

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